Antonio Onetti, re-elected as president of SGAE

The playwright and film and television scriptwriter Antonio Onetti has been re-elected as president of Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE), by the Board of Directors at the constituent meeting held today, Friday, 29 November, at the Palacio de Longoria in Madrid, the institution's headquarters. Onetti has held the post since 30 April 2020. 

Culminating the institutional renewal of the entity, the successive growth of revenue with a forecast that in 2024 will reach the highest collection in SGAE's history, the achievement of a more equitable and fairer distribution according to the success of the work and the guarantee of gender parity in the governing bodies of the institution, among others, are some of the milestones of the previous term of office of the Board of Directors chaired by Onetti.

Antonio Onetti, who has expressed his gratitude for the 'excellent' work of the members of the previous Board of Directors united by a common project that has allowed SGAE to be placed among the nine most important collective management societies worldwide and the fifth in Europe, has expressed that his main goal as Chairman is 'to continue improving the institution, thanks to the first-class professional team led by its Director General, Cristina Perpiñá-Robert, a key factor in the success of this society’. 

The Andalusian author has outlined some of the measures that he will carry out over the next four years: 'Right now, our focus is on helping our members affected by the recent storms and, to this end, we have set up different actions that will help to repair this damage'.

SGAE's president explains that as of 2025, he will focus on repositioning SGAE in the international sphere to defend the interests of its members. 'We must also promote the design and implementation of a strategic plan for new business models, especially digital ones. We have to improve the services that SGAE offers its members, and to this end, we hope that our collections continue the upward trend of recent years'.

Vice presidencies and Fundación SGAE presidency

The Board of Directors, in addition to the election of the new president, has also appointed four vice presidents: David Santisteban, representing the Music Rights College; Inés París, representing the Audiovisual College; Ernesto Caballero, representing the Dramatic Rights College; and Carlos Martínez (M20, SL EDICIONES MUSICALES), representing the Music Publishers' College. SGAE's four vice presidents, as well as its president, will make up the Standing Committee for the next four years. The composer Juan José Solana has been re-elected as president of the Fundación SGAE. 

A proven track record representing authors

Antonio Onetti (Seville, 1962) is a graduate of Dramatic Art from the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Madrid (RESAD). He is a playwright, film and television scriptwriter, stage director as well as a professor of dramaturgy and playwriting. 

A founding member of the Academia de las Artes Escénicas de España and secretary general in the first term of office, Antonio Onetti has been a SGAE member since 1987 and has extensive experience representing authors within the society. In 2012, he was a member of SGAE's Board of Directors, was elected Chairman of Fundación Autor and led its transformation into the current Fundación SGAE. He was also an elected member of SGAE's Board of Directors in 2018, and appointed vice-president by the Audiovisual College. 

As a playwright, he has premiered and published more than a dozen plays in Spain and some in other countries across Europe, America, and Africa. His texts have been translated into English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, and Romanian. As a film and television scriptwriter, he is a specialist at bringing real cases and historical characters to life on the screen and in all aspects of scriptwriting for daily series.

Some of his most outstanding works are: Madre Caballo, La Puñalá or  La calle del infierno, in theatre; Lobo, Lola or Operación E, in cinema; Padre Coraje, Los últimos días de Franco or La Catedral del mar (together with Sergio Barrejón and Rodolf Sirera), in miniseries; and El Súper, Calle Nueva or Plaza Alta, in soap operas. He has contributed as a scriptwriter to Amar en tiempos revueltos, a daily series on TVE (Spanish national television) of which he is also one of the creators, along with Rodolf Sirera and Josep María Benet i Jornet, from 2005 to 2012; and its subsequent sequel on Antena 3, Amar es para siempre, from 2013 to 2015. This past November, Onetti has published two plays, En la tierra seca (Annual, 1921) and Franco contra Franco (editorial Ñaque, 2024). His play La calle del infierno (2002) is currently being performed in Portugal. 

The 125-year presidency

Over its 125-year history, SGAE has been chaired by composers such as Ruperto Chapí, Amadeo Vives, Francisco Alonso, Jacinto Guerrero or Moreno Torroba; playwrights such as Benito Pérez Galdós, Pedro Muñoz Seca, Carlos Arniches, Eduardo Marquina, Juan José Alonso Millán, Ana Diosdado or Santiago Moncada; or filmmakers such as Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón or José Luis Borau. 

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

Dramatic Rights College:
Antonio Ruiz Onetti (Antonio Onetti), Marta Torres, Ernesto Caballero, Carolina López Díaz (Carol López) , Mariano Marín and Eva M. Garrido García (Eva Yerbabuena). 

Music Rights College:
Pablo Cervantes, Eva Fernández-Gancedo (Eva Gancedo), Inmaculada Mainé Roldán (Inma Mainé, Abril), Iván Martínez Lacámara (Iván M. Lacámara), Manuel Marvizón, Darío Palomo, Bárbara Reyzábal (Barei), Adrián Salas Viñallonga (Adrià Salas), Mercedes Trujillo (Merche), Joan Albert Amargós, Juan José Solana, Virginia Maestro, Ignacio de Loyola Mañó (Nacho Mañó), Javier Portugués (Portu), Olga María Román (Olga Román), María Victoria Sánchez (Vicky Gastelo) and David Santisteban. 

Audiovisual College: 
Inés París, Antonio Hens, María Ripoll, Rafael Cobos, Silvia Pérez de Pablos, Juan Esteban Urkixo (Joanes Urkixo) Helena Medina and Victoriano Sierra (Víctor Sierra). 

Musics Publisher' College:
M20 S.L. EDICIONES MUSICALES; BOA MÚSICA EDITORIAL S.L.; EMI SONGS ESPAÑA S.L.; UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING S.L.U.; WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC SPAIN S.A.; SOUTHERN MUSIC ESPAÑOLA S.A.; BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION S.L.U.; y EDICIONES JOAQUÍN RODRIGO S.A.