The filming generated at least 4,000 contracts on the islands during 2021

There were 155 productions, not counting the advertising ones, and they left an investment of 98 million, not counting the international ones

The Government of the Canary Islands assures that audiovisual filming broke a "record" during 2021 in the archipelago, generating at least
4,000 direct hires of technical and artistic personnel - Extras are not included, which were about 5,000 people, or suppliers -, which was twice as much as the previous year, said Juan Márquez, Deputy Minister of Culture yesterday.

The Autonomous Executive presented figures that, he said, support the
“audiovisual strategy” that was launched in the archipelago in 2015 and that allowed it to be the scene of 155 national and international productions during the past year, with an investment of at least
€98 million.

The figures are not complete as
Figures for international productions are not included, since the development of its tax incentive, via services with a local link, does not pass through the hands of the Government of the Canary Islands but directly through the Ministry of Finance. That yes, the minimum investment in the islands of this type of projects to access the tax reduction has to be as
minimum of one million euros.

This difference in the development of tax incentives is a demand that the sector has been asking for years to match.
“It is true that the tax incentive for national productions is more complex. It is a demand from the entire sector, throughout Spain. We have been asking for it for years, but the decision is national. Despite this, national productions did not stop coming. The incentive works, what happens is that it is more difficult to apply and it forces to do it with greater anticipation, ”recognized yesterday Natacha Mora, coordinator of Canary Islands Film, an organization that depends on the Canary Islands Institute of Cultural Development.

Specifically, he acknowledged at the press conference held at the Guiniguada Theater in the capital of Gran Canaria that
“only eleven of the 155” productionsbetween movies, series, documentaries, shorts and animation products, benefited from tax incentives.

It should be borne in mind that television products are excluded from this financial formula and that the islands are chosen more and more frequently for this type of project, with 64 throughout 2021, with many
'reality shows', Mora said.

The increase in turnover in this sector is unquestionable, as a result of the data presented by the Vice-Ministry of Culture. In 2018, the productions recorded were 79, generating some 60 million in revenue. The following year they rose to 101, with 48 million recorded. In 2020, despite the appearance of the covid-19 pandemic, 80 productions were developed with an investment of 28 million. Last year, of the 155 productions and the more than 98 million euros of investment, almost 20% were animated series and films.

Throughout the year, the Executive recorded a total of
14 fiction feature films, 13 television series, 23 documentaries, 64 television programs and 15 short films. In the field of animation, a feature film and 24 series were made, as stated in the data recorded by the Canary Islands Film.

Juan Márquez stressed that these productions choose the islands to shoot not only attracted by the policy of tax incentives, but also "because of the locations and the
industrial fabric» that has been developed in the audiovisual field in recent years. "National productions bring fewer and fewer people from outside" because they already have the necessary technicians on the islands, confirmed Natacha Mora.

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg and of course Spain are the main countries from which the productions that landed on the islands in 2021 depart. Among the names that were announced are series such as 'Foundation', 'La Casa de papel', 'Campamento Newton' and the animation series 'Pocoyó', 'Arcane' and 'Tara Duncan', as well as feature films such as 'Anmor de mother', 'Spame jam: a new legacy' or 'Lost in Rio', among others.

Natacha Mora advanced that this year the filming of "19 productions between Gran Canaria and Tenerife" has already been confirmed, a figure that will increase until December. Feature films such as
'The Mother'starring and co-produced for Netflix by Jennifer López, or the series
'Jack Ryan'from Amazon Prime Video.