Creative and Cultural Industries

ABogota has 5 key pillars for the existence, growth and strengthening of the sector, based on constant public-private institutional support that adapts to the needs of each company.

Bogota is a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities of Music network and the site of world-class festivals and fairs. Bogota has positioned itself as an epicenter for the creative industries in the region, being the main destination for Greenfield FDI in Latin America, above cities such as Sao Paulo, Miami or Buenos Aires for the Creative and Cultural Industries sector.

It concentrates most of the companies in the value chain of the sector in the country, with 74% of companies in creative industries, followed by regions such as Antioquia-Medellín 10% and Valle-Cali with 6%.

In the Creative Industries sector, Invest In Bogota has managed to certify 35 companies, which have generated an investment of around US$55 million and more than 1,100 estimated jobs in the city. Among the companies installed in Bogota are Netflix, Paramount, Streamline, Jam City, David the Agency and Frontier to name a few.

The 5 pillars that keep Bogotá thriving are:

Incentive System
Infrastructure
Human Capital
Support Ecosystem
Location

1. Incentive System

Colombia has two incentives, the FFC Cash Rebate and the CINA. These incentives promote the audiovisual, videogames, commercials, and videoclip industries to projects that are fully or partially developed in the country.

FFC – CASH REBATE

Reimbursement of 40% of the expenses in audiovisual services* and 20% of the expenditures for logistics services* in the country.

Local and foreign projects in the following formats:

Film works
Series
Music videos
Animation

In the stages of :

Production
Production and postproduction**

*Provided by Colombian companies or individuals of Colombian nationality and residents in the country.

**To be eligible for the FFC, a post-production project must have benefited from the FFC in the previous year in the production modality (Article 7.3 Resource Allocation Manual).

CINA – TRANSFERABLE TAX CREDIT

Tax Discount Certificate for 35% of the expenses in audiovisual and logistics services* in the country.

Foreign projects in the following formats:

Film works
Series
Music videos
Video games
Audiovisual production for advertising
Animation

In the stages of:

Production
Production and postproduction
Postproduction

*Provided by Colombian companies or individuals of Colombian nationality and residents in the country.

Consult 3 Reasons to Choose Colombia | Location Colombia

VAT EXEMPTION

“The services that are rendered in the country and are used exclusively abroad by companies or persons without business or activities in Colombia, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the regulations. Those who export services must keep the documents that duly prove the existence of the operation. The National Government shall regulate the matter;” Article 481(c) of the tax statute provides for VAT exemption on the export of services.

2. Infrastructure

Bogota has 268 companies dedicated to the audiovisual sector that together employ more than 2,700 people. This include production, postproduction, rental equipment, sound studios, visual effects, color correction and animation companies.*

*Source Invest in Bogota based on EMIS (ISIC codes 5911 and 5919). Others include casting agencies, advertising agencies, distribution and distribution
There are around 20 studios in Bogotá, with an average height of 9 meters and areas between 200 and 2000 square meters, equipped with the latest technology.

3. Human Capital

Bogota has 28 Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Bogota offer creative industries programs and it concentrates 35.7% of graduates in production, postproduction and multimedia in Colombia. It is followed by Medellín with 11.5%, Cali with 5.3% and Barranquilla with 4.5%.

4. Support Ecosystem

Bogota is the place where the industry reunites, learns and grows. It’s the ideal place in Colombia to do networking and to enhance professional relationships. BAM, BoMM, Colombia 4.0, ArtBo are events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

In recent years, Bogota has positioned itself as a center of reference in the country and at the regional level for the production and post-production of audiovisual content.

Bogota region is known for a wide range of open-air and covered locations, which allow the diversity of scenarios for any type of production. The use of public space for filming is regulated by the PUFA (Unified Permit for Audiovisual Films), which provides the necessary permits for all entities of the District.
Bogota counts with the presence of all government-level institutions, which allows access to financing, support, and accompaniment to produce audiovisual content. This also makes Bogota a competitive center in terms of costs since it allows finding all the services in one place.

The Bogota Audiovisual Market – BAM continues to consolidate itself as the most important business platform of the Colombian audiovisual industry. In its ninth edition, it brought together more than 1,600 businessmen, professionals and leaders in this sector, who held nearly 1,500 business meetings in the five days of the event. 82% of BAM Projects completed business.

5. Location

Bogota is a multifaceted and diverse city, ideal for filming all kinds of genres and stories. Diversity of spaces for the creation of varied narratives, in one place. Urban spaces for modern narratives, colonial spaces with marked architectural designs for the construction of period stories and natural spaces with different thermal floors and temperature diversity such as paramos, lagoons and mountains.

(Read Five art districts that every culture lover should visit in Bogota)

Prioritized Sectors

We are here to guide you and support you with your expansion to Bogota! Here are some interesting facts about our top sectors that attract the most foreign investment.

Film and TV Production: More than 120 projects have benefited from the incentives, including #1 shows such as “The Marked Heart” on Netflix, and the box office hits Gemini Man and Long Shot.

Postproduction:

Publicity:

Videogames: Colombia is the 4th market that generates the most videogame revenues in Latin America.

Music: Colombia is the largest music exporter in Latin America. In Bogota there are 1,765 music companies registered according to the CCB, of which 980 are dedicated to live musical entertainment activities, 304 to sound recording and music editing activities, 240 to music creation, 183 to programming activities and transmission in the sound broadcasting service, 38 to the manufacture of musical instruments and 20 to the production of copies from original recordings.