Latin American film commissions together to create a film network

Latin American film commissions have united to create a regional network charged with a mandate to foster new business and build exposure for the continent’s film industry.

The long-gestating idea, inspired by the European Film Commission and the Association of Film Commissions International, was finally born at a meeting at the recent Locations Trade Show in Santa Monica.

This is the first time these commissions have come together to act as a regional entity. In recent years, the tendency toward collective action and continental consensus has had a pre-eminent role in the region’s economical trade as well as in resolving major political conflicts.

The network’s initial goals include offering foreign producers a variety of locations for their productions; creating mechanisms for one single production to be carried out in several Latin American cities; having a wider global exposure (through media, marketing and promotion); strengthening foreign producers’ confidence in the region; and consolidating every film commission’s relation with government and nongovernment organisms.

The network also will allow members to share information on problem resolution, and it plans to establish a “cineposium”-type of training program. Organizers see this networking as a useful tool since many of the commissions are in their infancy; the Peruvian Film Commission, for example, was launched by the country’s Foreign Office just a month ago.

Among the upcoming initiatives are an annual calendar of events and a weekly newsletter that will cover all of the network members. Also, every film commission will provide information on productions taking place in their countries and on Latin American producers who are working.

The information could be used to study the economic and social impact of productions and how this buoys other areas, mainly tourism.

Source: Hollywood Reporter