Written by on Oct 26, 2011. Posted in On Location

Senator suggests a Guam film office could attract projects like James Cameron’s Avatar

Senator Tina Muña Barnes, of the Pacific island of Guam, has suggested that the island could attract major projects like Avatar if it sets up a dedicated film office. The island has a media organisation, but the Senator argues they could become an even stronger Pacific presence.

Senator Barnes wrote in the Guam Pacific Daily News: “Because no film office exists, we have missed opportunities to host large-scale film operations. We have lost revenue that could have stayed in Guam.

James Cameron is filming Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 in the Marianas Trench. He is doing this based out of Australia. A Guam Film Office would have the capacity to incentivise filming in Guam.

Senator Tina Muña Barnes

“James Cameron is filming Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 in the Marianas Trench. He is doing this based out of Australia. A Guam Film Office would have the capacity to incentivise filming in Guam. Can you imagine the exposure Guam would gain as a base for Cameron's films?”

Appealing to productions the size of Avatar seems ambitious at this stage, but developing a real filmmaking infrastructure on Guam - an unincorporated US territory - would certainly offer more options for productions looking to film in the Pacific. Perhaps the first target would be to follow the example of the Hawaiian islands nearly 4,000 miles to the east.