Written by Joe Jackson on Feb 16, 2022. Posted in Production News

Tenerife audiovisual production sets new EUR58.3 million record

A new record-level of investment in Tenerife’s audiovisual production was achieved in 2021. The latest economic impact equals approximately EUR58.3 million, more than double the previous EUR28.8 million record set in 2018. A large portion of 2021’s projects benefited from the attractive tax breaks offered by the Regional Government of the Canary Islands. Efforts made by Turismo de Tenerife’s Tenerife Film Commission were also pivotal in promoting the island as a great place to make films.

 

“Tenerife has shown that it’s a film-friendly island for all sorts  of productions,” explains Ricardo Martínez, director of Tenerife Film Commission, “and thanks to the work of top-notch local professionals and companies, the island has been able to deliver this amazing result after many years of hard work plus an unbeatable tax rebate.”

 

In total, 190 audio-visual production projects were undertaken in Tenerife over the course of last year. This represents an increase of 24% on 2019, which had previously been the busiest year to date with 153 productions. The aforementioned EUR58.3 million figure  includes the hiring of staff and equipment, as well as costs tied to accommodation and expenses. According to data from Tenerife Film Commission, the year’s productions led to the hiring of 3,511 technicians and 5,057 extras, surpassing the previous year’s respective totals of 1,187 and 320.

 

MONEY HEIST - Episode 06. Cr. TAMARA ARRANZ/NETFLIX © 2021

 

70 of these film projects came from Spain, of which 36 were local projects. 48 arrived from Germany and another 48 from elsewhere in the European Union. 14 projects from the United Kingdom chose to film on the island, while 10 Amercian projects chose to film in Tenerife. Overall, last year’s audio-visual projects in Tenerife amounted to a total of 1,207 days of shooting, compared with 443 in 2020 and 750 in 2019.

 

A number of new series were filmed on the island last year, four more than in 2019. These included high-profile international titles supported by Sur Film, such as: Netflix’s Money Heist, produced by Álex Pina’s Vancouver Media; Foundation, produced by Skydance TV for Apple TV+; and Crossfire, a mini-series co-produced by BBC Studios with RTVE. Camp Newton from Disney Channel, Secuoya Studios, Dopamine and Álamo Audiovisual was filmed in the summer with support from Festeam.

 

The animation industry is booming on the island, with ten series finished last year setting another new record. Although Tenerife Film Commission estimates that animation production accounted for 60% of the total economic investment in 2020, this percentage fell to 26% (EUR15.1 million) in 2021 due to a significant increase in live action film shoots.

 

CAMP NEWTON - Secuoya Studios, Festeam © 2021

 

A large number of fiction projects from Western Europe were made in Tenerife in 2021, including the German series The Gryphon, based on the best-selling fantasy novel by Wolfgang and Heike Hohlbein. This production for Amazon Studios by W&B was made in partnership with DogHaus Film. UFA filmed another entry for the popular German Balko series, returning with Balko Tenerife. UFA Fiction also came to the island to film the Der Schiffsarzt series for RTL.

 

The Canary Islands tax break offers up to 45% credit for both film and television production investment from island-based companies. This scheme edges up to 45% for the first million euros of investment and to 40% for the rest. Spain’s government also offers a 40% rebate on local expenditure to international non-Spanish shoots lensing in the Canary Islands, provided a qualified local expenditure of at least EUR1 million. The hefty tax rebate has a ceiling of EUR4.5 million per production and does require teaming up with a local production service company.

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Tenerife Film Commission

 

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