GUIDETO LATIN AMERICAN FILM COMMISSIONS 2017-2018 DIGITAL MAGAZINE #27, MAR 2018 (English edition) CHIL E WE DREAM WE CREATE WE FILM CHIL E WE DREAM WE CREATE WE FILM FILMING IN LATIN AMERICA’S BIG CITIES Dynamic. Chaotic. Culturally active. Architecturally attractive. The big cities in Latin America are often the setting for national and international shootings. This poses constant challenges for the Film Commissions that strive to offer services in order to facilitate the producers’ work, and at the same time look for ways to make the cities attractive and competitive since they un- derstand the benefits of turning them into film sets. We offer an overview of the work of Film Commissions in some of the most crowded cities in the region. By Cynthia García Calvo. With more than 12 million inhabitants, São Paulo use of public places and their relationship with is one of the main megacities in Latin America. the population, the institution works on raising awareness so that people understand the impor The dynamism of the city never stops. Given this scenario,The chaos the is constant.São Paulo Air Film traffic Commission is increasing has . - sought to organize the shootings with the help of Accordingtance of allowing to data filming from the in theirSão Paulo streets. Film Com mission, in a year and a half around 1,400 audio visual productions took place in 5,270 locations,- specifyingtechnology. the Its correspondingofficial website feesis a thatuser-friendly vary ac generating more than 30 thousand jobs. Adver- cordingtool that to allows the type filming of production. permits to Inbe addition,requested, it also has an app that provides access to public lo- - cations that are available, and in a second phase 207tising and has 125the highesteach respectively. number of requests Further (665),back, will include private locations as well. - followed by short films and TV programs, with an important presence of a growing sector: web documentaries (94) and feature films (56), with management“The three main of difficultiespublic places to shoot and thein this popula giant series (60). Recent productions include the Bra- tion”,metropolis points are out without Tammy a Weiss,doubt coordinatorthe traffic, the of zilian series for Netflix “3%” and the national fea- the São Paulo Film Commission that reports to- ture “Nada a perder” (“Nothing to lose”), shot for Despitefive months the in great no less demand than 82 at locations a national in the level, city. cuses on the development and promotion of the São Paulo now aims to get attention of projects Spcine, a government-owned company that fo- from abroad. “We are in the process of looking challenge is to make a shooting compatible with theaudiovisual number industry.of events Inthat the take case place of traffic,in the city,the rebate to attract the international market,” says public transport, bike lanes and everything re Weiss,for incentive who remembers mechanisms in via particular cash rebate two and major tax lated to the daily movement of one of the most challenges with foreign productions: the series populated cities in the world. In the case of the- “Sense 8”, which demanded management and coordination work for three months so they could The Zócalo Capitalino, Ángel de la Independen - thefilm city at thein order LGBT to parade, create anand apocalyptic an advertisement setting. thecia, centerPaseo deof Coyoacán,la Reforma, Tlalpan Alameda or XochimilcCentral, Kios are- that required closing one of the main avenues of co Morisco, Parque España, Parque México and productions, mostly advertising and television. ted city in Latin America. CFilma, the Film Com However,the most cinema requested has locationsa strong forpresence. audiovisual This The capital of Mexico is the second most popula- - millionmission inhabitants, of Mexico City, with is ina metropolitancharge of facilitating area of year, a blockbuster like “Godzilla: King of the moreand making than 20 filming million more inhabitants. friendly in a city of 9 Monsters” made a stop in Mexico City. The pre- tingproduction took place in Mexico in the Historic-which won Center the oftug the of warcity “The main challenge for our committee has been with Guatemala- lasted two months. The shoo- to bring productions closer to the public and en rent drones and the construction of an air fusela sure that the shootings develop in peace,” notes geand of had 14 meters. more than On the 700 screen, extras, this the will use be of shown diffe- - - Manager of CFilma. “This has been achieved with theMauricio implementation Maiolo Aguinaco of security Rodríguez, protocols, General civil BIGin just CI TfiveIES, minutes. BIG CHALLENGES protection and strict adherence to civic cultu re, which help productions reduce their impact in the community in which they take place,” he- andFor SteveInternational Solot, Executive Consultant Director of Film of theCommis Brazi- sions,lian Network “the main of Filmchallenges Commissions of shooting (REBRAFIC) in large the agreements reached to implement signage urban areas is to get in a timely manner the per- adds. One of the examples of these actions are facilitate the free circulation of pedestrians and Film Commissions have created windows to ma- vehicles,that identifies thus reducing the filming the onnumber public of roadsneighbor and nagemits toonline film permitsin public that and are private very useful,spaces. and Several tho se that do not have this electronic service should- “The result of these actions has been the creation- - hood complaints and relieving the traffic flow. nagement service.” According to Solot, another be able to offer an efficient and fast permit ma- of a new and growing film culture,” he states. Sense 8 THE SAFEST COUNTRY IN LATIN AMERICA Latin Trade Magazine DON´T TAKE ANY RISK www.costaricafilmcommission.org +506 2505-4837 CRFilmCommission CRFilmCommission important issue is that the productions need to ces of Buenos Aires. “Currently the Buenos Aires have liability insurance, something that must be Films Commission offers a catalog of locations in the city, gives advice on how to shoot in the has a value that can amount to 1 million dollars. sent before requesting the filming permit and mits and advice on logistical issues for the entry Big international shootings are usually on the ra city, provides an agile management of film per- dar of the Film Commissions, but the challenges Florencia Stivelmaher, Operational Manager of of receiving a production from a major are many,- theof personnel Audiovisual and District. equipment to Argentina “, lists being the neighbors one of the most sensitive The Buenos Aires Film Commission came into issues. The problems caused during the filming ning the city into a center of regional production. logyof “Rome” from duethe tocity’s the closureFilm Commission of the avenues and with the operation at the end of 2009 with the aim of tur- the heaviest traffic in Mexico City led to an apo- Alfonso Cuarón. Set in the 70s, the streets, buil “The familiar and historical difficulties have to do producers responsible for the upcoming film by internationalwith coordinating cinema, that, take in this place, city since of traffic they andge - neratecomplex work, movement, investment great and productions, tourism to mainly the city”, of dings and places of Roma, Navarte and Tabaca- - lera play a key role in the first film shot in the Mexican capital by the Oscar-winning director inexplains recent Stivelmaher.years are “Focus”, Among starring the major Will foreignSmith; since the success of “Y tu mamá también” (“And productions that have been filmed in the city BASetyour Mother is the too”),electronic in 2001. management system of “Operation Finale” by Chris Weitz, a story about “Cologne”, with Emma Watson, or the recent one of the most demanded Latin American capi talsfilming for permitsaudiovisual in public productions. spaces of UntilBuenos October Aires, isthe always capture intense of the nationalNazi Adolf production Eichmann that with choo Ben - sesKingsley Buenos as Airesthe main as the character. scene for In itsaddition, scripts. there - 2017, 423 productions were filmed in public spa- La cordillera Rio, eu te amo In recent years, Chile has bet heavily on beco “It was a great challenge to be able to standardize Commission has carried out different actions to- ble,” she concludes. makeming athe world country class competitive film set. The and Nationalto lighten Film the languages, but the benefits are already noticea- Bogotá has been one of the last Latin American national audiovisual production and a shooting capitals to launch its Film Commission. Created destinationload of filming increasingly in Santiago, demanded both the epicenter internatio of in 2014, it is a program run by Cinemateca Distri nally. The capital of Chile has been working with the Film Friendly program by Chile Film Commis- - tal-Gerencia de las Artes Audiovisuales of Idartes - that during its first stage has focused its efforts forsion the (FCCh), development consisting of shootings.of the standardization of presenton implementing the documentation, the Unified permitsPermit for and Audiovi autho- filming permits, friendly rates and information rizationssual Filming for (PUFA),a shooting a mechanism in public built that space allows and to Although the landscapes are usually the great - attraction of Chile, the capital also presents its advantages. “Santiago has the grace of being a SareasPEctat of theORS city TH inat a fastBEC andOME efficient TOURIS way.TS chameleon