The Island welcomed 104 film productions last year, including 10 feature films
Tenerife was host to a total 104 national and international film productions, which brought more than 9.6 million Euros to the Island. These figures evidence the strength of Tenerife as a film location, thanks to its superb natural features, a powerful local film industry and very competitive tax incentives.
Special mention deserves the growth of the animation industry last year, which saw three new companies setting up business on the Island, which created over one hundred jobs. One more company is scheduled to establish in Tenerife, where they will hire a good number of local professionals within the next few months.
This situation is not the result of chance, as Cabildo de Tenerife has been committed to the film and animation sectors for years, as this sector has the potential to create qualified jobs on the Island, a line of work that falls within the Tenerife 2030 strategy, fostered by the Cabildo. The Island has managed to build a powerful ecosystem with a good combination of taxes, talent and quality of life plus the institutional support to the film industry.
According to the statistics of Tenerife Film Commission (TFC), the Turismo de Tenerife department in charge of promoting the Island as a film, commercials and photoshoots location, in 2017 the number of photoshoots totalled 40. Commercials amounted to 23; there were 18 TV programmes; and a total of 10 feature films were shot. There were also three short films, three documentaries, two music videos and four TV series. All in all, TFC answered 250 requests last year, while the total number of shooting days amounted to 635.
Expenditure on the Island ranges from 2,000 and 15,000 Euros per day for photoshoots for catalogues and advertising respectively, and 50,000 Euros per day can be spent in a TV commercial production. As for feature films, spend ranges from 20,000 to 35,000 Euros in European productions and can reach up to 350,000 in North American super productions. The 9.6 million Euros spent on the Island by film productions in 2017 are good for the tourism and film sectors, as this amount was spent in hiring equipment, crew, local talent, transport, accommodation, and maintenance, among others.
As for feature films, the Island welcomed the shootings of ‘El cuaderno de Sara’; ‘Sol a cántaros’, ‘Happy people’, ‘Apocalipsis Vodoo’, ‘Operación Concha’, ‘Yucatán’, ‘Platon’ and ‘Girls with balls’, in addition to the animation films ‘Tadeo Jones 2: Las aventuras del Rey Midas’ and ‘Las máquinas de vapor de Oz’. The series shot in 2017 include ‘Pro and Cons’, ‘Tiempos de guerra’, ‘Kill Skills’ and the second season of the animation series ‘Cleo’.
Training
Last year the Cabildo fostered a training programme for the film sector with the collaboration of the Clúster Audiovisual and the Government of the Canary Islands, along with the support of Fundación MAPFRE Guanarteme, which trained a total of 87 students.
Some of the activities carried out include an executive production workshop; head of locations for film and advertising; light & grip technical workshop; film production in English; plus a session on administrative advice for the commercial production sector. There was also a course on ‘Voice and dubbing’ by the Escuela de Actores and the company T-Lab which was attended by 22 people.
In addition to this and thanks to the funding of Fundación MAPFRE, more than 80 students were trained in different skills demanded by the animation companies that have set up on the Island.
New shootings
Tenerife will host the shooting of the film ‘La viajante’ in April, produced by Canaries company Digital 104. In May the feature film ‘Blanco en blanco’, by ‘El Viaje Films’ will start shooting. A few days ago, the production of the film for television ‘Vacaciones con amigos’ was finished. It brought 750,000 Euros to the Island. It will be premiered at prime time on the German TV channel ARD (which has the largest audience in the country).
On the other hand, work goes on for the second season of the animation series ‘Emmy & Gooroo’, a production service provided by Tenerife production company Tomavisión.
Last year Tenerife Film Commission agreed the sponsorship to hold the first Quirino Awards of Latin American Animation on the Island. The event will take place from 5 to 7 April in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Tenerife Film Commission
Tenerife Film Commission offers production companies all the advice they may need on locations, permits and the services they may require while shooting on the Island. TFC has a total of 47-member companies, which means a 27 per cent increase and the creation of new categories like animation, drones, transport and logistics.
The wide range of areas suitable as film locations, including volcanic, subtropical, urban, coastal and marine landscapes within a very short distance, means the Island can double for many different places in the world in just a few kilometres. Technology and the network of local production companies, the tax advantages and incentives for productions and an privileged climate that allows shooting exteriors year-round, make up the attractions of Tenerife as an ideal film location.
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