From Caribbean Business

Puerto Rico is poised to stand in for El Salvador during filming of a movie tied to the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s as the island’s aggressive incentives continue to lure big-budget productions.

“Angel’s Paradise,” a political thriller based on the torture and killing of a reporter during the Salvadoran civil war whose death leads to the uncovering of the Iran-Contra affair, is scheduled to begin shooting in Puerto Rico in summer 2015.

Puerto Rico’s aggressive tax incentives, talented local crews, varied backdrops, solid infrastructure and sound legal protections are continuing to pay off in the effort to grab film industry attention. Films mean direct and indirect jobs and get money flowing through the island economy.

Puerto Rico has been leading a push by Caribbean nations, including the neighboring Dominican Republic, to sweeten their incentives as they compete with each other to land productions.

Leading industry publication Variety has trumpeted Puerto Rico’s varied settings, noting that the island has stood in for Iraq, Vietnam, Spain, Brazil, Cuba and various other “far-flung places” as filmmakers increasingly look to the island for its diverse backdrops and talented local crews.

The island has carved out a solid place on Hollywood’s radar, luring several big budget productions in recent years and the government’s Film Commission is now targeting its pitch to European countries including France, Spain and Germany.

The Film Commission says film productions have invested close to $80 million in Puerto Rico since former Gov. Luis Fortuño enacted aggressive tax breaks during the previous term aimed at landing more crews to the Caribbean island. At least eight films are slated to be shot locally in fiscal 2014, representing a $56.7 million injection into the island economy, according to La Fortaleza.

The biggest fish hooked to date will be the fifth installment of the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise, which has been penciled in to start shooting in Puerto Rico this year.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” will be filed in both Puerto Rico and New Orleans at the end of the year, the directors said in January.

Johnny Depp will again helm the movie as Captain Jack Sparrow. Geoffrey Rush is on board as Barbosa and Keith Richards will reprise his role as Captain Teague.

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS online first reported in 2012 that Disney Pictures had picked Puerto Rico to film the fifth installment in its hugely successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise (“PR’s film industry lures land a whale” Sept. 13, 2012).

However, the production appeared to be in limbo after Disney’s “The Lone Ranger,” also starring Depp, failed at the box office last summer. It now looks as if the next “Pirates of the Caribbean” installment is a go.

“Pirates of the Caribbean” promises to be the biggest production landed to date.

Based on reported budgets, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” ($300 million) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” ($250 million) are among the top 10 most expensive movies ever made. The series has grossed more than $3.7 billion around the world so far, ranking it among the most successful movie franchises ever, while production costs topped $900 million through four installments.

Scenes from “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth installment in the series, were shot in Puerto Rico two years ago, with producers praising the island’s film crews and scenery. But the bulk of franchise has been shot in Hawaii.

Depp is no stranger to Puerto Rico, having filmed both “The Rum Diary” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” on the island.

Variety has noted that juicy incentives have been paying off in both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, pegging surges of film production by about 60 percent for both.

Variety said Puerto Rico, which offers a 40 percent transferable tax credit on payments to local companies and individuals, as well as a 20 percent production tax credit on all non-resident qualified spending both above and below the line, is the furthest advanced in luring foreign productions to its shores.

The additional incentives made the U.S. territory among the most attractive locales for film production crews. The Dominican Republic answered Puerto Rico’s production incentives with its own set of economic lures.

NBC-Universal’s big-budget pirate drama “Crossbones” is pumping nearly $30 million into the island economy and creating more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs, according to the Puerto Rico government.

The TV series shot at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads at Puerto Rico’s eastern end stars actor John Malkovich in the role of the notorious 18th century pirate Captain Edward “Blackbeard” Teach at the height of his power. Filming over five months stretched from the Ceiba base into Fajardo, Luquillo and Old San Juan.

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