After the success in various previous audiovisual markets, Costa Rica made its presence felt at the American Film Market (AFM) 2024 with a delegation of four national companies to offer its wide and innovative offerings to the global film industry. Likewise, the country marked a milestone with the presentation of the film Paradise Falls, a Christmas Story, a Costa Rican production that was screened at Brenden Theatres.
The country’s participation in this event, one of the most important film markets in the United States, was driven by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Agency (PROCOMER) and the Film Commission in collaboration with the essential COUNTRY BRAND COSTA RICA. In addition to Paradise Falls – which represents a success story of international financing achieved at the European Film Market and Cannes Film Festival.
The national delegation was composed of:
Sparkle Studio: a post-production studio specialized in special effects that is currently working on a fantasy project.
Café Cinema: a production company dedicated to both commercial cinema and the sale of production services, which presents the film Paradise Falls, a Christmas Story.
Gelb Hi: an audiovisual production company that brought the thriller project Chicle to AFM, a co-production with Canada, which stands out as an example of transnational collaboration in the film industry.
Vital Music: specialized in musical composition for animation, video games, and audiovisual productions. Vital Music participates in AFM with the aim of exploring new alliances with executive producers, directors, showrunners, line producers, and location managers for both scripted and unscripted series and programs.
Positioning Costa Rica developing audiovisual industry
“American Film Market is a highly important platform for positioning Costa Rica and its developing audiovisual industry in the competitive international market.” “We have already had successful cases of financing as a result of participation in these types of spaces, such as Paradise Falls, a Christmas Story, which also had its screening during the event in search of distribution,” stated Marysela Zamora, Film Commissioner of Costa Rica.
Héctor Alfaro, General Producer of Café Cinema, added that “this project was a collective effort full of passion and dedication, and we are proud to share it at the American Film Market.” We hope that the story and the message feel as impactful to the audience as they resonated with us while creating it.
The Costa Rican delegation featured an essential COSTA RICA brand stand that highlights the country’s natural intelligence in the social area of the AFM, in the Lounge at View space, next to the socialization and presentation area of the event. This location provided Costa Rican companies with strategic visibility, facilitating networking with high-level decision-makers in the audiovisual sector, which will help position Costa Rica as a benchmark film destination in the region.
PROCOMER and the Costa Rican Film Commission worked alongside the companies in preparation for the AFM, arranging business agendas and networking, reinforcing the country’s commitment to attracting foreign investment and expanding business opportunities for Costa Rican projects.
