In this column, a reflection on how the audiovisual industry in Colombia went from being an occasional service to become an engine of investment, employment and international projection.
By: Ana Barreo – CEO of CMO
At five in the morning, while the city is still asleep, a team of more than one hundred people begins to set up lights, cameras and scenery in a location in Bogotá. In a few hours, this everyday place will become the setting for a story that millions of people will see in movie theaters, traditional channels or digital platforms in different parts of the world.
As an entertainment industry executive, I have lived many times that initial moment of a shoot, and I am always excited to know that behind every scene there is much more than entertainment: there are hundreds of jobs, professional talent, rigor, discipline, creativity and a complex -and growing- economic machinery in motion.
Colombia has a long history in audiovisual production, driven by independent production companies, television channels and international companies with a local presence. However, for years, when a major production sought locations in Latin America, the first destinations were usually Mexico or Brazil.
Today, that map has changed. Factors such as tax incentives, the diversity of locations, the country’s strategic location and relative economic, social and political stability have allowed more than 34,000 professionals – including writers, directors, producers, actors, audiovisual artists, designers, musicians and communicators, among others – to drive sustained growth in the sector. In the second half of 2024 alone, Colombian content according to Netflix generated more than 2.59 billion hours of views on the platform, and national content led the Latin American market with 24.6% of the total content in Spanish, which is why, with increasing frequency, productions in our language are among the most watched in the world.
Read in Spanish here
