28 “We offer a microwave truck for live shots and we subcontract dubbing services.” Competition for production among the soundstages is fierce, and the ones VideoAge visited do not have rate cards because rates vary project-byproject. As a reference point, one of the managers said that a bare soundstage is rented at about $40,000 per month and it includes the support area (green rooms, for talent to rest; makeup rooms; office space for the visiting production staff and the control console room). According to Caracol’s Cruz, whenaproducerbids for a facilities costs, studios tend to know how much other studios are expecting to charge and the competitive advantage is represented by the services offered. In addition, producers can utilize or modify existing sets, thus saving the cost of building new ones. In this case scriptwriters will have to adapt their settings and be able to visit the existing set during the production for which it was built or at least well before it is dismantled. All the facilities VideoAge visited are willing to co-produce by taking an equity position in the production in lieu of cash payments, with possible distribution rights, at least for LATAM. Caracol’s Cruz admitted that, “We have not done much to attract European producers, but it is a client base that we will be [focusing on] in the future.” However, the main challenge for the Miami studios is not finding new clients, since the Anglo film-TV industry adds a steady workload, but rather, as Cinemat’s Scheuren explained, the challenge is to “produce various TV shows simultaneously.” Indeed, for Cinemat the ratio is 75 percent Anglo to 25 percent Spanish. By Dom Serafini also owns distribution company Video Global. However, all its studio rental business comes from U.S. and Latin production companies, with none fromEurope, as is the case formost ofMiami’s other studios. Naturally, Europe and the Far East are on the radar of many independent soundstages in Miami and every one of them offers some strategic advantage. “We’re a production facility that has an infrastructure like a TV station, since we rent out one of our two studios to Mundo FOX’s local channel 8,” said Caracol America Productions’ Cruz. Added Javier Olave, the studio’s Engineering director: “We’re fully redundant. We have our own electrical generator in case of power failure [a possibility since south Florida is often struck by hurricanes] and fiber, uplink and downlink connectivity.” Cruz said, Miami ’s Product ion Faci l i t ies (Continued from Page 26) Cinemat’s classroom facilities for school aged out-of-town talent Natcom Studios at Mana Wynwood: Robert J. (Bob) Rodriguez June/July 2015 www.VideoAgeDaily.com At all major TV trade shows, content buyers read the printed version of VideoAge Daily. Around the world film and TV executives read the online edition of VideoAge Daily. No matter where, when or how, your buyers will see your ad.
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