Your Ultimate Guide to Latin America For Your Film or TV Project

Latin America has become a growing hot spot for film and television productions, and notable projects continue to arise from the area, including Academy Award-winning ROMA, Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or nominee AQUARIUS (produced by a Stage 32 member!) and successful Netflix drama series NARCOS. With desirable film and television infrastructures, talented cast and crew on hand, and generous local incentives for productions, Latin American countries will no doubt continue serving as a booming market for foreign productions into the future. As a producer or filmmaker, understanding and working within this region can serve as a boon for you and your projects.

Latin America might be a production hot spot, but it’s also a hard place to nail down. That’s because we’re talking about multiple countries with their own governments, incentives, cultures, treaties, and opportunities. And of course, all of these continue to change as countries shift and evolve. So what does this region look like right now from the point of view of a filmmaker? And how can you harness the opportunities these countries have to offer? Where do you even get started?

David Zannoni is an expert in the Latin America industry. For over a decade he has represented Fintage House (the world’s largest collection account management agency) in the region, negotiating agreements for films and television series. David is involved in business development and relationship management specifically in the US, Latin America and Spain. David also runs Zannoni Media Advisors, where he focuses on international service providers in the film and TV industries, as well as film and TV productions in Latin America, among other places. David’s experience in global business as it relates to Latin America is unparalleled.

David will dissect the booming and ever-changing Latin American film market to give you the bird’s eye view of what’s going on over there and how you can get involved. He will begin by discussing the region’s history with film and television productions, as well as the notable titles that have come from there recently. He will then delve into the main production hubs in Latin America on an individual basis—Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico. He will then teach you the main types of incentives offered in the region, including tax rebates, tax exemptions, and discounts, and how those differ country-to-country. Next, David will go over how co-productions work in Latin America and the benefits that come along with them. He will outline the different co-production treaties in place and how you can use these to your advantage. He will discuss how Latin American films are financed, how they’re distributed, and how standard revenue models work there. He will then give you the tools to successfully approach businesses in this region and warn you of the common pitfalls you may come up against. He’ll then lay out the services offered in these regions that you can use, as well as the Latin American markets and festivals worth investing your time in. This is the ultimate guide to everything you need to know to produce in Latin America.

Praise for David's Webinar:

"I learned so much! Thank you"

-Janet M.

"I was not expecting David to give us so much specific information about producing in Latin America. This was incredibly helpful"

-Mario T.

"One of the most thorough and informative webinars I've ever been on. Thanks David and Stage 32!"

-Holly B.

"David knows so much about this! It was great to learn from an actual expert"

-Benjamin R.