Sources

• Text: aicep Portugal Global
• Photo: Lê Minh

The Algarve’s film industry is “about to boom”. So say two film production companies based in the Algarve which started this week a “long-term collaboration to raise the profile of the region as a destination for the global media and entertainment industry”.

In a nutshell, the initiative will involve “bringing key people to the region, organising corporate/press trips and working alongside other professionals wishing to invest further in the region”.

Spy Manor Productions and Production Algarve are film production companies which provide support, film locations and professional services to the entertainment industry.

The Resident spoke with Vanda Everke, founder and director of Spy Manor Productions, who elaborated on what the partnership plans to accomplish.

“With the current state of the pandemic, everyone is looking for alternative shooting locations,” Everke told us.

This has opened up an opportunity for the Algarve to showcase why it has everything it needs to attract filmmakers.

“It has picturesque surroundings, great local infrastructures, everyone speaks English, the local government is very supportive, the hospitality is great and there is great expertise here and an availability of filming crews,” said the head of the film production company.

The Algarve’s similarity to California is another trick up the region’s sleeve that it can use to attract foreign filmmakers, she added.

Multiple conversations are already underway with filmmaking companies in the USA and UK, Everke told us, and hopes are that they will lead to concrete plans to shoot here in the Algarve very soon.

Everke also told us that Spy Manor has been supporting the project to build a state-of-the-art film complex in Loulé, saying that it will help strengthen the Algarve’s profile as a destination for the film industry.

As the Resident reported when it was announced in February, the complex will be built near Loulé’s industrial area in the same spot as the old Unicer factory and will feature several film and television studios.

Hopes are that the complex will become an important film and audiovisual entertainment hub on a “national, European and global scale”.

Meantime, Nina Klunder, owner and director of Productions Algarve, has also celebrated the start of the collaboration with Spy Manor Productions.

“As a company with extensive experience in film and TV productions in the Algarve, Production Algarve is always focused on serving our clients in the best way possible and extending our professional film production network worldwide. We are, therefore, pleased to announce our collaboration with Spy Manor Productions in both developing the local film market and promoting the Algarve as one of the best and most diverse film locations in Europe,” she said.