The pandemic has not only changed our lives but it has also hit large industries economically, that is the case of the audiovisual industry, most of the productions have been canceled for fear of contagion and government restrictions. Uruguay is one of the countries in the region that best faced the Coronavirus crisis, this has brought it great opportunities in a sector that has not been reactivated in various parts of the world.
The Uruguayan audiovisual industry activated a protocol to start its recordings in May since then they have had great success, especially with foreign productions, as confirmed by Mariana Secco, president of the Association of Producers and Filmmakers of Uruguay (Asoprod), in an interview for the AFP agency, noting that in July alone they carried out some 30 projects for Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.
Secco said that the Uruguayan audiovisual industry has grown due to the situation, «Comparatively with the rest of the region we were expensive. We had lost competitiveness. Now we have a window of opportunity«, she also added that Uruguay today is an opportunity for countries that «under another circumstance would never have come».
On the other hand, Santiago López, executive director of Cimarrón Cine, affirmed «We are going to be the first countries in South America to shoot movies», assuring that content production services are contacting them, something that did not happen before.
The Uruguayan government, under the mandate of former President Tabaré Vásquez, created the Uruguay Audiovisual program, which allows projects of more than $ 600,000 to apply for a refund of up to 25%, with a maximum cap of $ 400,000. The plan is nearing completion on October 15.
Uruguayan producers propose the extension of the program. According to Santiago López, Netflix’s arrival in the country last year was thanks to the plan since Uruguay returned about $ 400,000 to production and recovered another $ 438,000 in taxes. López also highlighted that said production generated 3,000 jobs. Representatives of the sector assure that if the program manages to spread the country could have a much greater presence in the streaming giant.