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/ Wednesday, September 22, 2021
New Film Project Represents Economic Impact of $163 Million
Direct investment of $65.7 million to film ‘The Plane’ on the island
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The Weekly Journal Staff
he production and filming of “The Plane,” an action film starring Scottish actor Gerard Butler, represents a direct investment in Puerto Rico of $65.7 million and an economic impact of $136 million with the estimated occupation of 3,964 hotel room nights. The news was shared by Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, who revealed details of this upcoming production alongside Butler and the secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its Spanish acronym), Manuel Cidre, at a press conference in the Pedrín Zorrilla Coliseum in San Juan. As part of the plot, Butler plays commercial pilot Ray Torrance, who, after successfully landing his plane in hostile territory, must face a hostagetaking scenario. The actor is known for such movies as “300” and the trio of “Fallen” movies, such as “Olympus has Fallen.” “This project, which uses scenarios in Ceiba, Río Grande and San Juan for its filming, employs some 500 Puerto Rican workers - including technicians, actors and production personnel - generating a payroll of more than $5.1 million with a fiscal impact of over $450,000 in withheld income taxes. During the four months of the project’s filming on the island, nearly 4,000 room nights will be used, achieving an economic impact of $136 million, an amount much greater than the investment made by the government to grant under Act 60 of 2019 with $26 million in tax credits,” said Pierluisi, who has promised to reiterate before the Financial Oversight and Management Board the benefits of increasing these credits for the film industry to foster job creation and economic development on the island. For his part, Cidre explained that the team of the DDEC’s Film Industry Development Program “carefully analyzes the proposals that are received and selects those projects that provide the best performance for Puerto Rico. All the incentives available through the Incentive Code, including those for the film and creative industries, are granted based on the investment represented by the project submitted for evaluation and their return on investment, among other criteria.”
From left, Gerard Butler, DDEC Secretary Manuel Cidre and Gov. Pedro Pierluisi convene to share details on the Scottish actor’s new movie. >Josian E. Bruno Gómez
Actor Gerard Butler praised the work ethic of the Puerto Rican professionals hired for the production, who comprise 80 percent of the technical team. >Josian E. Bruno Gómez
Moreover, the secretary underscored that every concessionaire who has been granted a decree for eligible film projects under the Incentive Code will only receive the tax credits after submitting an audit, prepared by a certified public accountant (CPA) in Puerto Rico, in which the expenses incurred are confirmed. The audit is evaluated and the expenses are validated by both the DDEC and the local Treasury Department in order to certify the tax credits to which the concessionaire is entitled. It was also reported that this project generates expenses of $19 million for the employees who have come to work on the island. These payments receive 20 percent in tax incentives, subject to a withholding of 20 percent with an automatic impact of $3.8 million that is paid to the Puerto Rico Treasury Department “The Plane” is produced by Marc Butan, Alan Siegel, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, with Puerto Rican producer Luillo Ruiz, and directed by JeanFrancois Richet. At the end of the summer, Pierluisi announced that after the filming on the island of “Fantasy Island,” a drama series set in the 1970s and 1980s that premiered in August on the Fox television network, the economic impact was over $54.7 million. In addition, 418 direct jobs were created and the hotel occupancy was estimated at more than 2,000 nights for the entire production team, actors and staff.
