Puerto Rico aspires to become an international mecca for the film production industry by offering tax incentives and tropical and historical settings, which have already hosted filming of famous franchises such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Fast and Furious”.
The Caribbean island has attracted 72 film productions since 2019, representing an activity valued at US $ 1.1 billion, a vital contribution to an economy in free fall for more than a decade.
The director of the Program for the Development of the Cinematographic Industry (PDIC) of Puerto Rico, Rosi Acosta, pointed out that the island has a privileged climate to record all year round, which together with having the dollar as currency and the same legislation of intellectual protection that the United States makes it a reference.
Very attractive incentives
“We have the same banking and legal laws (as the US), which gives confidence to producers who want to come to Puerto Rico,” said the key person to promote this industry, which since 2019 has contributed to the creation of 9,600 jobs.
Acosta also highlighted that “Puerto Rico has a very attractive tax incentive and other incentives for anyone who wants to locate on the island to carry out business, not only with the cinema.”
The authorities of the Commonwealth to USA Their objective is to attract film production companies from all over the world, including European ones, although American ones are a priority due to their size, proximity and common legal regulations.
Tax incentives offer a contribution of 40% of the expenses disbursed in service companies that have a physical presence in Puerto Rico, and an additional 15% if a co-production contract is given to a company on the island that has control over the intellectual property and financing of the film.
“Puerto Rico has all the elements to carry out a sustainable industry, the only thing we need is the infrastructure of film studios, but we hope to complete it once and for all,” said Acosta.
Famous movie recording
The island has hosted the recording of such famous films as “Fast and Furious 5”, in which the streets of the central Santurce district of the capital, San Juan, served as the setting for what is supposedly Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian city where part of the film takes place.
“Pirates of the Caribbean” also chose Puerto Rico and, specifically, the Castillo de San Cristóbal, in Old San Juan, which was used as the exterior of a Spanish fortress that appears in the penultimate film of the saga.
The main film production company in Puerto Rico is Pimienta Film, a company that has Luillo Ruiz as its first manager, who indicated that the sector attracts large amounts of money “to a jurisdiction that is in great need.”
“This industry puts the country on the map”, underlined the director of Pimienta Film, which always produces productions in English.
Ruiz participated last summer in the production on the island of the action film “The Plane,” starring British actor Gerard Butler, one of the latest landmark filming in Puerto Rico.
“Each of our productions employs between 700 and 1,500 people, 85 of which, at least, are Puerto Ricans,” the manager added.
An untapped potential
“Puerto Rico can grow in the film production sector,” said Ruiz, after pointing to the lack of recording studios as one of the few obstacles to establishing the island as a benchmark in the industry.
Pimienta Film, the most prolific production company in Puerto Rico with budgets ranging from US $ 15 million to US $ 20 million, is responsible for productions such as “The Force of Nature” (2020), with Mel Gibson; “Protected Witness” (2019), with Bruce Willis; or “Story of a betrayal” (2021), with Al Pacino.
The goal of turning Puerto Rico into an international center of reference is shared by figures such as the Puerto Rican singer and performer Pedro Capó, who recently premiered “Perfect Host”, a local film directed by Ariel Annexy.
According to Capó, one of the objectives of the sector is to “take Puerto Rican cinema forward” and place the island “as the epicenter.”
Roselyn Sánchez, also from Puerto Rico, one of the Latinas with the most presence on television in the United States, emphasized that the Puerto Rican government offers very interesting tax incentives.
“The island has a good climate and it is spectacular, the perfect place to shoot movies,” said Sánchez, who participates in the series “La isla de la fantasia”, whose second season will also be filmed in Puerto Rico between February and June. 2022.
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