centro de portugal
film commission
The Film Commission concept was created in the 1940s in the US and has been replicated by many countries
around the world. In Europe, Great Britain was the first country to create this type of organization in the
80s, soon followed by France, in the early 90s and then other countries. This international dynamic of Film
Commissions led to the creation, in 1975, of the AFCI - Association of Film Commissioners International, which
currently comprises over 300 organizations from 60 countries. More recently, since 2007, the European Film
Commission Network (EUFCN) has been set up in Europe. It has currently over 80 Film Commissions from 27
countries.
The audiovisual production sector (films, TV series, soap operas, documentaries, music videos, advertising,
etc.) has seen a large increase worldwide in recent years. The digital age has contributed greatly to this, which
has brought a significant cost reduction throughout the production process, coupled with an ever more
diversified and fast diffusion/distribution, thus facilitating a growing demand from the general public.
One of the most important factors in a film production is having the right décors that meet the needs and
requirements of the producer/director. If we realize that behind every film, every ad, every picture is a film
location, we easily understand how this factor is especially important for this type of industry. Producers
are increasingly pressured to look for new locations to achieve greater diversification of locations (especially
outdoor) that meet the demands of production.
In recent years, to fulfill this need, which has come to be seen as essential, has emerged the Centro de Portugal
Film Commission (CPFC) that counted from the first moment with the institutional support of Turismo Centro
de Portugal, because it is a strategic project and for the potential for notoriety that it represents and that have
attracted the attention of international and national producers for shooting films, TV series, documentaries
and commercials. Just to show, in 2019, we already received more than 15 requests for shooting, most of
which were from international producers.
At the governmental level, the importance of this market niche in the international dissemination of our
country began to be verified and support began to appear for audiovisual productions, culminating in the
recent creation of the Portugal Film Commission, which is dependent from the Ministry of Culture and Turismo
de Portugal, which was a long-established goal and which crossed more than one government. Interestingly
the model advocated for the Portugal Film Commission was the same that was applied 2 years ago by Turismo
Centro de Portugal and Centro de Portugal Film Commission!
In addition to the purpose for which it was created, the CPFC should diversify its activities and cement its
position not only at regional but also national level.
The creation and support in the organization of events with national and international impact, allows us to
affirm the CPFC at a higher level, thus generating more confidence and positive impact on the entities that
already support us, on all our stakeholders and foster the emergence of new partnerships. The ART&TUR
Festival is a good example of how an event of this size can help promote CPFC’s awareness, notoriety and
credibility.
Best wishes to the ART&TUR Festival, this year, in the beautiful city of Torres Vedras!
Bruno Manique
President of Centro de Portugal Film Commission