Lantica Media Dives In

Lantica Media’s COO, Fred Medina, spoke with World Screen about the services the Dominican Republic-based company offers, including its state-of-the-art water-filming facilities.

***Image***Located in the Dominican Republic, Lantica Media provides a full-service studio for filming water-based productions. According to Fred Medina, the company’s COO, “Lantica Media is a one-stop shop for productions, providing state-of-the-art filming facilities and world-class production services, as well as production and financing of water-based films or TV shows.”

Medina continues: “Our aim is to attract water-based films and TV content that can be filmed completely in the Dominican Republic. We are looking into projects that can contribute to the development of the local industry by making use of all of its resources—from the diversity of its locations to its crew base and service providers.”

One of Lantica Media’s primary business lines is Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, a state-of-the-art studio facility and production services company. Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios is a member of the U.K.-based Pinewood Studios Group, which provides studio and related services to the global film and television industry. It began operating in 2015. Located on 43 acres of land, the studio offers water-filming facilities, including a 60,000-square-foot outdoor horizon water tank, which Medina says is the newest in the world. Each of the three filming studios on the North Lot features an indoor water tank and the site is also complemented by a production building equipped ***Image***with offices, makeup and dressing rooms and construction workshops, as well as backlots that serve as sets.

The South Lot houses the outdoor horizon tank, which offers an “endless view of the Caribbean Sea,” Medina says. “Equipped with the most up-to-date marine and diving equipment, the bilingual team has been professionally trained and certified by Diving Services UK, which specializes in underwater filming.”

Alongside Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, the production company Lantica Pictures provides another business line. “Lantica Pictures incorporates a production company that aims to develop, finance and produce specific, water-based projects,” says Medina. “Since we are a full-service production organization, it is easy for us to get on board at any stage, from the script level or after the film is finalized.”

“Studio rentals come with support services from an in-house team, offering business solutions for all production needs,” Medina adds. Lantica is able to supervise productions, provide budgeting support, logistics assistance, location scouting, casting of talent, assist with the upfront monetization of incentives and more.

And the company’s island location gives it a leg up on attracting the water-based projects it seeks. “Working in the Dominican Republic with Lantica Media allows clients to benefit not only from the state-of-the-art studios and water-filming facilities at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, but it also allows them to access a wide range of water-based filming locations.” This includes beaches, rivers, cascades, mangroves, water caves and lagoons, as well as other diverse landscapes such as deserts, mountains and metropolitan areas. In addition, the island is conveniently accessible, with direct flights available from cities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

The Dominican Republic is also an attractive production location because the country offers well-established infrastructures, competitive labor costs and a technically skilled workforce. According to Medina, “In recent years, the infrastructure [on the island] has improved, creating an active and prepared industry, enhanced by the construction of our world-class Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, and by the attractive incentives offered through the Dominican Film Law, which was passed in 2010 and has proved to be competitive compared to other jurisdictions in the same region. It’s an ideal destination for both film and TV producers.”

Of the projects that have been hosted at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios since it began operations approximately 18 months ago, 50 percent were films, including xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and In the Deep; 38 percent were commercials; and 12 percent were music videos from clients in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. Clients the company has worked with on commercials include Unilever, Discovery and Wella. Medina notes, “Most of these productions have used the water-filming facilities, including the horizon water tank.” He adds that the next film slated to be shot at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios is a new Zorro film, which will be directed by Jonás Cuarón, with Gael García Bernal in the role of Zorro.

With its eyes focused on the future, Lantica Media aims to “continue our strategy of positioning ourselves in the U.S. market and to continue to attract international filmmakers,” Medina says. “We will continue to work toward making the Dominican Republic the water-filming hub of the Americas, where filmmakers not only come to shoot in the water tank, but also have endless options of natural locations. When filmmakers in the U.S., Canada, Central and South America think of water filming, we want the natural answer to be the Dominican Republic.”