Photo taken from Vanity Fair – Mauro González / Netflix Link de la imagen Macondo and the opportunity to shoot in Colombia’s filming locations
Colombia's beauty is now a main character in the international audiovisual industry. Our country’s landscapes and our city’s streets have become ideal filming locations for large-scale audiovisual projects, including movies, series, documentaries, commercials, and music videos, among others.
An example of this is the adaptation made by Netflix of One Hundred Years of Solitude, with a 16-episode series that will premiere on December 11, 2024. The series was filmed in the country of beauty thanks to the spaces and conditions it offers to production companies that decide to film their projects here. Discover how Colombia's filming locations have become ideal settings for the international audiovisual industry.
Photo taken from Vanity Fair – Mauro González / Netflix
Photo taken from Vanity Fair – Mauro González / NetflixColombia's advantages for the global audiovisual industry
Colombia offers advantages and incentives to companies seeking a location for filming series, movies, and many other audiovisual formats. Among these are:
1. Tax incentives: under laws such as Law 1556 of 2012, the country offers reimbursements of up to 40% for expenses in film services and up to 20% for hotel, transportation, and food expenses. This undoubtedly represents an economic advantage for the film production services and to filming series in Colombia.
2. National talent: Colombia's audiovisual industry boasts highly qualified talent that significantly contributes to international productions, providing expertise, experience, and competitive costs.
3. Iconic locations for filming: The entire country has become a filming location for all kinds of audiovisual projects. Colombia has very diverse environments for the location of movies. Urban and natural landscapes serve as scenarios with the ability to simulate spaces of other countries. These also have diverse cultural expressions that can be useful for the development of series, films or documentaries.
4. The geographic location of the country: this location not only offers spaces with unique characteristics but also benefits from infrastructure that enhances connectivity and transportation for the audiovisual market.
·5. The country's renewed leadership in the industry: having created the first audiovisual adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude is a milestone for the country and for the sector, as this iconic literary work presents great challenges that require a very particular team and locations. Having achieved something like this makes the country one of the leaders in the audiovisual industry, as it provides experience in ambitious, high-budget audiovisual productions and ideal conditions for the audiovisual innovation.
Thanks to these competitive advantages, Colombia has earned a prominent place in the international audiovisual industry, bringing its cultural and natural essence to viewers around the world. The production of One Hundred Years of Solitude is proof of this achievement and opens the door for more audiovisual projects to see Colombia not only as a location, but as a strategic partner of high impact.
Photo taken from La República / NetflixThis is how Macondo was built in Colombia
The filming of One Hundred Years of Solitude adaptation, made by Netflix in alliance with Dynamo, a Colombian production company, is proof of the relevance Colombia is gaining as a location for filming, as this ambitious audiovisual project positions Colombia at the top of the global audiovisual industry.
For the filming of the series, what might have seemed impossible became a reality: bringing Macondo to life, that fictional town imagined and narrated by Gabriel García Márquez, a place deeply embedded in the heart of the Colombian culture.
To achieve this, Bárbara Henríquez and Eugenio Caballero, the series' production designers, led an investigation into the Colombian architecture of that time. This, together with a rigorous reading of the work, allowed them to imagine what Macondo would be like if it existed in real life.
Photo taken from La República / NetflixWorking alongside dozens of artists, decorators, artisans, historians, set designers, and others, the team developed a plan for the town's construction. Some houses were fully habitable, while others were facades built solely for the film set. These houses were painted and designed considering the political reality of the country, which is also a central theme in the novel's narrative.
The centerpiece of this construction was the Buendía family home, a place also central in the novel. With a more detailed production design and with spaces that change over the course of the series, this place stands out for a unique feature: it was designed by Úrsula, that fictional character so iconic of Colombian and universal literature.
The filming location selected to build this ambitious project was a farm located in Alvarado, a Colombian municipality in Tolima. The climatic conditions and terrain of this land made it the perfect place for the adaptation of this Colombian novel.
Thus, Colombia has become the ideal location for some of the most ambitious and captivating audiovisual projects in the film market. The country boasts the infrastructure, incentives, talent, experience, and ideal locations to support such productions, solidifying its global reputation and bringing Colombia’s beauty and its filming locations to screens worldwide.
Learn more about this Netflix series here.
