Benidorm reactivates audiovisual filming

Benidorm reactivates the audiovisual activity these days, managed through Benidorm Film Office (BFO). For a week, coinciding with the start of Phase 1 of the restrictions lifting, several producers have requested information and authorizations to record in the city, especially on the beaches. This is the case of the production of the feature film ‘Ama’, whose filming was interrupted when the state of alarm was decreed and that until March 13, it was filming sequences on Levante beach.

The Mayor, Toni Pérez, has indicated that “as we already indicated last January, this 2020 we were marking the best start to the audiovisual year since BFO was launched, with innumerable projects of national and international importance and significance, some of which were affected by the decree of the state of alarm and had to be temporarily suspended by the Covid-19 health crisis. However, we are convinced that Benidorm will continue to be a pole of attraction for production companies now that audiovisual activity is reactivated; a reactivation that we are always articulating under the premise of guaranteeing health security ”.

Specifically, BFO is moving to production companies interested in working in the city the existence of “a manual for safe filming prepared by the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) with the participation of the sector, including the Film Commission and Film Office, and which has been endorsed by the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSST) ”. Furthermore, before authorizing filming, they are going to require "an affidavit stating that they are informed about the recommended measures for the development of their work."

In this Phase 1, authorizations to make recordings or photography sessions in public spaces depends on the City Councils, as established by Order SND / 399/2020 of the Ministry of Health. Regarding recording on the beaches, the largest projects, with large recording equipment, are transferred to the Coastal Subdelegation of Alicante; while the simplest and least deployed human resources are managed directly from the City Council and always after communicating the Local Police.

In this sense, it has influenced that “the beaches are one of the most demanded locations for the productions that Benidorm choose for their projects. In fact, since January all the projects that have passed through the city have carried out sequences on the beaches. ” This is the case of the “fashion report for Bershka brand, recently released; the feature films ‘Nieva en Benidorm’ by Isabel Coixet and ‘El Cover’ by Secun de la Rosa; or ‘Benidorm’ series that Atresmedia has announced to air on June 7. ”

"Our beaches," he added, "are a constant demand, something that has been evident during this state of alarm; even programs of news have been constant, and have transferred images of the city from all over Spain and even abroad in full confinement ”.