Founded in 2004 on the island of Tenerife, Sur-Film is a production company with a presence in the world of film and advertising.
Besides having a vast and rich experience, it offers agile and creative solutions.
Its shootings try to offer the essential support to international production companies, film studios, as well as TV platforms.
In this case, Sur-Film stands out for its specialization in the Canary Islands as well as in mainland Spain and other countries such as Portugal.
During the XI Jornadas de Producción de Cine Publicitarios we were fortunate to have Juan Cano Trujillo (“Nono”), CEO and Executive Producer of Sur-Film, and Bea Fluxá, Line Producer of Sur Film, at the round table of The International Service is Possible in Spain.
Nono and Bea talked about the importance of the internalization of technicians and suppliers. How does this strategy contribute to the success of your productions?
At the beginning we were forced to hire technicians from other countries, who helped us to understand the system used in large productions as well as in the training and apprenticeship of our crew.
Positions that did not exist in Spain, such as Greens or Drappers, began to develop. Today, our technicians are part of an international community of technicians and therefore, not only provide their services in Spain but continue to work wherever the project moves.
As for the material suppliers, the effort has paid off because at this moment we have rental companies for camera equipment, lighting, grip, drone, wardrobe rental, catering that are very competitive and just as our technicians are also requested to continue providing services outside Spain.
Bea said that right now Spain is considered “European Los Angeles”. What mark has Sur-Film left so that Spain has been able to reach that level in production?
Our main clients are Hollywood film studios such as Disney, Universal, Paramount or Warner Bros. and having helped them move their productions to Spain is very significant and gives a lot of weight to our industry.
To think that thanks to our incredible and varied locations, a very competitive tax incentive and above all the professionalism of our technical team make it possible to shoot great productions in our country, is a great satisfaction for us.
How do you see the future?
The immediate future of the “service” is at an impasse since the strike of the American actors’ union is still going on.
The long-term future in our country needs a pact on the part of everyone for the industry to settle and consolidate. Both technicians and Spanish production companies must show commitment to what they do and not opportunism when it comes to executing a project or doing a job.
Can you share with us any challenge you have faced that has been particularly difficult?
Challenges are the daily bread of this profession; the best example is our locations department when they managed to close a road for 2 months to shoot sequences for the film “Wonder Woman:1984” and in our production department when we got permission to fly a drone in a CTR zone or to have a no-fly zone for confidentiality reasons for the project “Han Solo: A Star Wars Story”.
Another topic of the round table was transparency in productions. How important is open communication in your work?
Open and transparent communication with international producers who do not know our Spanish laws and regulations is absolutely essential in order not to fall into unfulfilled promises or bad practices. That is why it is important to have associations like the APCP that watch over this seal of quality.
Interview by Marina Carazo
