Colombia
Location: South America
Broadcast Regulators
Film Commissions
Comisión Fílmica de Bogotá (Bogotá Film Commission)
Comisión Fílmica de Medellín (FilMedellín) (Medellín Film Commission)
Visas & Permits
Visas & Work Permits
Crews travelling on Western passports, staying for less than 90 days can enter visa-free to film in Colombia. It is, however, recommended to present customs and immigration a letter of introduction, from the Colombian film commission, when entering Colombia. Long-form projects may require visas.
Please contact a local embassy, consulate or representative for more information. Alternatively, there are specialist companies that provide visa and immigration support to the media industry, and may be able to assist.
Film Location Permits
Most permits are applied for at a local level where filming will take place. Bogotá and Medellin have local film commissions that handle permitting.
Permits for basic shoots take about two weeks and are usually free. Larger shoots requiring exclusive use of public space, police escorts and road closures require more lead time, and may come with location fees.
Additional permits are required to film in national parks, historic and archaeological sites.
Drone filming is currently permitted.
Customs
For productions looking to bring in film equipment, Colombia is not an ATA carnet country.
Bogotá and Medellín are the largest production centres. All the standard camera, grip and lighting equipment is available locally in Colombia. When planning to bring professional gear, permission to film from the Ministry of Culture must be obtained beforehand.
There are no customs duties, providing the gear is exported. Allow extra time, when flying back with gear, to clear equipment out of the country. Equipment may remain in Colombia for up to six months.
When to Film
When to Film
Colombia has a tropical climate with long sunlight hours throughout the year. Mountains and coastal areas tend to have cooler temperatures. The Amazon region stays hot and wet all year-round.
Bogotá has spring-like conditions, with warm days and crisp nights. Given its elevation, Bogotá can get chilly, particularly in the evening. In general, the best periods to film for dry weather are December to March or July to August.
Colombia is a predominately Christian country, so those holidays are observed.
Public Holidays
Public holidays may affect timing, availability and costs. See here for public holiday dates in Colombia.
Costs & VAT
Colombia is one of the best production centres in the world, in terms of value for money. There are very few places in the world where such a wide variety of locations and industry infrastructure are available at such low costs.
In most cases, shooting is less than half of the cost of shooting in the US, even when filming outside of Bogotá with all the additional travel costs are factored in.
The standard VAT rate in Colombia, at the time of writing, is set at 19%.
Funding & Tax Incentives
Funding
DOCTV Latinoamérica
Proimágenes Colombia
Tax Incentives
Tax incentives for Colombia