Panama
Film Locations. Panama City offers a beautiful modern skyline. From Panama City you can reach the Panama Canal within minutes, rainforest within 30 minutes, rivers within 45 minutes, mountains within 50 minutes and beaches within 1 hour. Panama city also offers Spanish colonial buildings and a modern container port.
The palm lined white sand aqua marine San Blas Islands are 2 hours by boat or 20 minutes by air. Further to travel but also on the Caribbean side lies Bocas del Toro, an ex-banana plantation turned paradise resort. On the Pacific side you can find pristine Coiba Island, a former penal colony now nature reserve. Bananas, pineapples, coffee plantations.
Panama City is the capital and most likely place to base your production.
Permits. Film friendly government agencies. Public city locations are free but require a permit that usually takes up to 48 hours to process. Permits for filming in national parks can be quite expensive depending on the type of production.
When to shoot? Panama offers a tropical climate all year round. The dry season is from December to May. The rest of the year is rainy, with the greatest intensity of rain during the months of October and November. Temperatures on the Pacific side tend to be lower than on the Caribbean. Temperatures are markedly cooler in the higher parts of the mountain ranges.
For monthly weather statistics please see here.
Please contact us for more specific weather and sun path information.
Costs. The favorable exchange
rate means that your currency goes far in Panama. The greatest cost is the need to bring in your specialized equipment and possibly your key crew but that is offset by the low costs of locations,
talent and supporting crew. On average Panama costs around 30% less than major South American service centres.
Talent is non-union and buyouts are negotiable. Day rates are very reasonable and negotiated on a personal basis.
Panama offers mainly International-Latin and Amerindian looks. Several ethnic groups exist including the unique colourful Kuna Indians that live on the picturesque San Blas Islands. Given the existence of the Panama Canal there is also a sizable community of US and European citizens. Panama's close proximity to major US production centres allows easy access to those pools of multicultural talent should you need to look further.
To view an example of some of the local talent looks please see the following:
Physical Models
Panama Talent
Castin
Creative talent. Panama has a very small pool of local directors, directors of photography and stills photographers.
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews are also non-union.
Panama has a small depth of good, fast working crews most of which speak basic English. Since it is such a small developing production centre it may be necessary to bring in key crew depending on the availability of local crews.
Fringes. No hidden extras. Individuals are responsible for their own taxes.
Premiums Panama works on a twelve hour day but there are no fixed or enforced rules here. No weekend, night or holiday premiums. Our producer packages a deal that is fair to all. Typically if a project goes past midnight then crews are compensated for the second day.
Equipment. Only basic equipment is available locally. Local production companies have their own equipment and share when necessary. The overall stock of equipment is quite small. All specialized equipment and operators are required to be brought in from abroad. Miami is the closest major production centre. Mexico and Colombia also have a range of equipment and are cheaper alternatives then bringing equipment from the US.
Art department and set construction is impressive in Panama. Local crews have built sets for Survivor, MTV's Road Rules Challenge and James Bond: Quantum of Solace.
Studios. Only basic facilities belonging to local TV stations exist.
Backlots. At present no backlots exist in Panama.
Tax Incentives. At present there are no tax incentives for feature films or commercials shooting in Panama.
Film Stock. Only Fuji stock is available locally.
Post Production. No film processing or transfer facilities exist at present. Rushes go to Miami. Only video post on Smoke or Final Cut available.
Visas and Work Permits. Entry is subject to regulations from country of origin. Contact your local Panamanian embassy or representative for more information.
Transportation. Well developed transportation infrastructure except for the northwest part of the country. Beaches and mountains have good paved highway access. There are two local airlines: Aeroperlas for domestic flights and Air Panama for regional flights. Several international carriers service Panama on a daily basis.
Accommodation. Recommended hotels in Panama City include:
Finisterre Suites
Radisson Decapolis Hotel
Sheraton
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organize serviced apartments.
Communication. Web posted casting, scouting and videoconferencing.
Safety. Panama is one of the safest countries in the region.
Projects. For an example of TV commercials, online advertising, corporate videos, stills campaigns, feature films, TV series and documentaries shot in Panama, please see below:
Our production service companies, line producers and fixers have serviced TV commercials, online advertising, corporate videos, stills campaigns, feature films, TV series and documentaries for:
AXA Belgium, BBC UK, Canon Singapore, Coca Cola Indonesia, Concord Canada, Dove Malaysia, Deutche Bank Germany, Dressman Sweden, Evian France, HBO USA, Heineken Ireland, Hyundai Korea, Intercontinental Hotels Global, ITC India, Kirin Japan, Kraft USA, Landrover UK, LG Korea, Meunil China, McDonalds Australia, MUFG Japan, Nikon Hong Kong, Nokia China, Orange Moblie Slovakia, Philips Netherlands, Proctor & Gamble USA, Chery Riich China, Rimowa Germany, Samsung Korea, Sinoland Hong Kong, Skipper Italy, Smirnoff USA, Sony United Arab Emirates, Stella Russia, Telefonica Spain, Vidal Sassoon China, Virgin Media UK, and much more.
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer in Panama, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
