BACK TO CONTENTS
COLOMBIA latin flare
with a caribbean coast, andean mountains and valleys, colourful cities and rich rainforests, colombia delivers on location range. moreover, incentive programmes are aimed at both advertising and music video projects, as well as long-form work.
quipped with arguably the most robust system of incentives in Latin America, Colombia has firmly established its position as a serious competitor for international work. The two funding streams under the banner of Law 1556 of 2012 allow producers to decide between a 35% Tax Credit or a Cash Rebate on 40% of audio-visual services and 20% of logistics expenditure.
Changes in 2020 expanded the type of formats supported, with both streams now covering music videos, feature films and TV series. The tax credit also covers advertising and video games.
On top of this, the main production hubs of Medellin and Bogota offer additional financial support. Bogotá Film Commission has a variable percentage in the exemptions to filming permits for projects “EL OLVIDO QUE that have already qualified SEREMOS, nominated for incentives. “Foreign film for a goya thiS productions will be granted a year, Shot SceneS in 50% exemption from the total value of the permit and foreign TV medellín with productions will be granted a 20% moStly local crew exemption from the total value of and talent.” the permit,” explains Paula Villegas Hincapie, arts deputy director at Bogota’s District Institute of the Arts – IDARTES. She notes that projects which have taken advantage of the scheme include Amazon’s Jack Ryan, Running with the Devil starring Nicolas Cage and Laurence Fishbourne, Memoria starring Tilda Swinton and Mile 22 featuring Mark Wahlberg.
location highlight
Portal de los Dulces, Cartegena The Portal de los Dulces runs along one side of the Plaza de los Coches, a bright yellow triangular square in the very centre of Cartegena. The ‘portal’ is an arched walkway above which colonial balconied houses look onto the plaza. Traditional confectionary shops and street vendors sell locally made Colombian sweets such as coconut and burnt sugar candies, milk dolls, almond and guava delicacies lined up in jars. The arches feature in the film adaptation for Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera by Mike Newell starring Javier Bardem as the Portal de los Escribanos – the Arcade of the Scribe where the protagonist writes love letters over the course of 50 years. Although never explicitly named, many believe that Cartagena was the setting for Marquez’ award winning book.
37