25 film projects worth $148M in investments set to roll in Puerto Rico
Twenty-five romance, comedy and action films representing $148 million in investments are slated to roll in Puerto Rico beginning in the second half of this year, Department of Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Manuel Laboy confirmed.
The productions are backed by the agency’s Film Industry Development Program.
“This second semester of the year has a robust list of productions that will film under strict distancing and protection measures against the spread of COVID-19,” he said. “This 25 projects will generate about 2,951 jobs, totaling about 1,465 filming days and 1,643 hotel room bookings.”
Unlike other years, nine of these productions were approved under the Incentive Code and the rest under the parameters established by Law 27 of the Economic Incentives Law for Puerto Rico’s Film Industry, he said.
Under the new Incentive Code, film projects will be allowed access to a tax credit of up to 40% of spending for residents and an additional 15% is added subject to compliance with several conditions, for a total of 55% of expenses to residents, plus an additional 20% for payments to non-residents.
“During the past three years we’ve worked as a team to create the best conditions to increase the filming of productions, be they feature films, short films, series or programs, among others,” Laboy said.
The list of projects backed by the agency are: “En Agua,” “Dama de Las Camelias,” “Soltice,” “Spicy,” “Midnight at Switchgrass,” “Hombres de Cuello Blanco,” “Sin Escape,” “Todo por Amor,” “Road to Bella,” “Sonido Bestial,” “Gina Yei,” “YSUG Live,” “Leo From Toledo,” and “Historias del Rey,” among others.
As this media outlet reported, the shelter-in-place and business lockdown orders the island’s government issued on Mar. 16 represented $80 million to the industry through late April. Some 21 production projects were cancelled, representing a loss of some 950 days of filming, 2,900 jobs, and about 2,500 hotel room nights, Laboy said at the time.
However, Film Industry Development Program Director Pedro Piquer-Henn said “with the projects already endorsed and ready to roll, in addition to the new investment estimated for this fiscal year that has just begun, the immediate future of the film industry in Puerto Rico is projected to be very positive.”
