Production services · Puerto Rico
A local team that speaks your language, on set and on paper.
FILMKIK is a production company based in San Juan. Along with our own original and client work, we help production companies from the States and around the world shoot here: locations, permits, crew, gear, and a clear path through Puerto Rico's film incentives.
Incentives · Act 60-2019
Puerto Rico offers transferable tax credits under its Incentives Code (Act 60), administered by the Film Program at the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC), all within US jurisdiction.
See the incentives on the Puerto Rico Film Commission site (DDEC) ↗
Summary based on the Puerto Rico Film Commission and DDEC Circular Letter 2026-003. Incentives change and every project qualifies differently. We guide you through the process alongside your Puerto Rico accountant and attorney. This page is not tax or legal advice.
On the ground
Puerto Rico gives you the Caribbean without the hassle of shooting abroad. The same rules as the mainland, crews with studio experience, and an island where almost everything is a few hours from San Juan.
US citizens fly in without a passport. The currency is the dollar, and the same legal, insurance and copyright framework applies as on the mainland.
Equipment from the mainland travels as a domestic shipment: no carnets, no customs brokers. Whatever you don't bring, we rent locally.
Technicians and creatives who work in English and Spanish, with experience on nearly 1,000 productions since 1999, including studio features and series.
A colonial city, rainforest, mountains, caves, dry forest and more than 270 miles of coast, all a few hours' drive from San Juan.
Roughly 12-hour days, fast sunsets and brief afternoon showers. Hurricane season runs June to November, and we plan around it.
Atlantic Standard Time all year, with no daylight saving: the same as New York in summer and one hour ahead in winter.
Locations
Beaches, a colonial city, jungle, small towns, Art Deco, caves and modern luxury homes. We handle the scouting and every permit with the Film Commission, municipalities and agencies, so you can focus on the shoot.
Reference images for each type of location.
Five-century-old cobblestone streets, forts and plazas. It has doubled for Havana more than once, and La Perla was a backdrop in Fast Five.
The only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest System, with rivers, waterfalls and mist.
Condado's Art Deco, beachfront towers, the Milla de Oro and Santurce's street art.
Church, plaza, gazebo and balconied storefronts: the heart of each of the island's 78 towns.
Coffee haciendas, winding roads, small towns and valley-to-valley views.
The Río Camuy caves, Cueva Ventana and the mogotes of the north, green haystack hills that look like another planet.
Guánica's dry forest, Ponce's grand architecture and the salt flats of Cabo Rojo.
Postcard beaches, bioluminescent bays and clear water, a short flight or ferry from the main island.
Power plants, solar farms, microgrids, ports and hangars. We know the grid up close: we're making a film about it.
Luxury homes are all over the island: from old haciendas in the heart of the mountains to modern oceanfront villas in Dorado, Palmas del Mar, Vieques and around San Juan.
Filmed in Puerto Rico
Films
Series
Productions that have filmed on the island. These are not FILMKIK credits.
Services
From a two-person documentary unit to a full crew, we shape the service around your production.
We find, photograph and lock locations, and coordinate permits with the Film Commission, municipalities and agencies.
We help you see early whether your project qualifies, and work alongside your Puerto Rico accountant and attorney on the decree.
Bilingual crews, local casting agencies for actors and extras, and equipment rentals sized to your shoot.
Budgets, schedules, travel, lodging, vehicles and local vendors.
Interviews, communities, government and industry, with translation on set.
Our core. Director- and DP-led units for documentaries, interviews and branded content.
A documentary unit that tells the story of your production: behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews, EPK and social cuts.
More than 15 years building production studios, including at Google, for productions setting up a base on the island.
The process
Share the script or treatment, your dates and the size of your team. We come back with questions, ideas and next steps.
We scout and photograph locations, and build a Puerto Rico budget and schedule.
We help you prepare the Film Commission application early. Credits require a decree before you shoot.
Permits, crew, casting, gear, travel, lodging and transport.
We're with you on the ground. After wrap, a Puerto Rico accountant audits the spend and the Film Commission certifies the credit.
Why FILMKIK
Halana Mediavilla is a documentary director and producer, born and raised in Puerto Rico. She spent 12 years telling technology stories in Silicon Valley, five of them producing and directing at Google, and has filmed on four continents for clients like Google, Volvo, Porsche and the Vatican.
From a two-person documentary unit to a full crew for a feature or series, we scale to your production, with bilingual crews, casting agencies and local vendors, from the first scout to the last day of the shoot.
In 2021 she moved back to the island with her family and her company. Her documentary Dirty Coin won Best National Documentary at the Puerto Rico Film Festival 2025. She knows the island, its people, and how to make a shoot run smoothly here.
“Alana Mediavilla and her team were fantastic. They delivered above and beyond what they promised. They were fun to work with, professional, and punctual. This is definitely not the last time that we work together.”
Co-productions
We're open to partnering with production companies on stories that matter. Our slate includes Caribe Terror, a horror anthology series in development with an Emmy-winning team, and El Grid, a feature documentary on how the Caribbean is building energy resilience.
If you have a project that could use a Puerto Rico partner, or one of ours sparks something, let's talk. And when a Puerto Rico producer leads, the incentives can go further.
Contact
Tell us about your project, your dates and what you need, and we'll tell you how we can help.
alana@filmkik.com
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico · Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-4)
Industry guides cite $50,000 for features and series and $25,000 for shorts and documentaries. We confirm the current threshold for your project with the Film Commission.
Apply online through DDEC before you shoot. Principal photography must start within 120 days of the decree. After wrap, a Puerto Rico CPA audits the spend, generally within 90 days, and the credit is certified within about 30 days of that report.
Yes. The decree carries a filing fee of 1% of your Puerto Rico production expenses, capped at $250,000.
The credit is transferable. Productions usually sell it to a Puerto Rico taxpayer once the project is complete, often through a broker.
The extra credit is tied to Puerto Rico residents leading the project and holding key roles. As a Puerto Rico company with a Puerto Rican director and producer, we can fill some of those roles. The Film Commission decides eligibility project by project.
It depends on the place: the US Forest Service for El Yunque, the National Park Service for the forts of Old San Juan, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) for beaches and reserves, and each municipality for its streets. Drones follow FAA rules. We coordinate all of it, with support from the Film Commission.
Yes. We work with local casting agencies for bilingual actors, extras and stand-ins.
Most gear can be rented on the island, and the rest ships from the mainland without customs. The Film Commission can provide letters for hotel tax and equipment excise waivers. San Juan's airport has nonstop flights from many US cities, and Culebra and Vieques are a short flight or ferry away.
Yes. We handle everything from a two-person documentary unit to a full crew for a feature or series.
Incentive details per the Puerto Rico Film Commission and industry guides. Confirm the details for your project with the Commission and your accountant.