The federal government has struck a deal with six major Hollywood movie studios that is set to benefit the film industry in Mexico.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced Monday that in conjunction with state and municipal governments it had reached an agreement with Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. as well as the Motion Picture Association to form a working group focused on growing the film industry in Mexico.
The central objective is to have more movies and series made in Mexico, where films such as James Cameron’s “Titanic”, Baz Luhrman’s “Romeo + Juliet” and Sam Mendes’ “Spectre” were partially shot.
At a meeting with film studio executives at Netflix’s Los Angeles offices on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that new investment that is expected to flow into Mexico as a result of the working group agreement would create over 1 million jobs.
“More productions, more jobs and wellbeing in Mexico,” he said in a Twitter post.
“Day 1 of the new road we’re going to travel with the Hollywood entertainment industry to grow the creative power of Mexico!” Ebrard tweeted above a photo of the attendees at Monday’s meeting.
The foreign minister was accompanied by 50 mayors of Mexican cities as well as 17 state economic development ministers, SRE officials and Mexico’s consul general in Los Angeles, Marcela Celorio.
“During the meeting, the great economic impact of the audiovisual industry in Mexico was reviewed,” the SRE said in a statement.
“… The creative industries contribute 54 billion pesos [almost US $3 billion] directly [to the Mexican economy per year] and 42 billion pesos indirectly. At a regional level, the [trade] agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA) has been a fundamental tool for the industry and the protection of intellectual property.”
The SRE also said that the Mexico and United States governments had agreed to include film industry-related issues on the agenda for future High-Level Economic Dialogue meetings.
That move “will facilitate coordination between authorities of both countries to drive growth of the audiovisual sector,” the ministry said.
In addition to playing host to foreign filmmakers and crews, Mexico has its own acclaimed film industry. Several Mexican directors – including the “three amigos” Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro – have had success with both Mexican and foreign productions.
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