Colombia. The launch of the series One Hundred Years of Solitude marks a milestone in the history of audiovisual production in Colombia. Its impact transcends the cultural dimension, also becoming an economic engine.
According to Netflix data, to date, the project has contributed more than 225 billion Colombian pesos (about US$52 million) to the country's economy. It is a measure of the impact on GDP, which includes both the impact of direct spending on production and that which occurs in the supply chain.
The project reaffirmed Colombia as a competitive destination for international productions due to its diverse landscapes, talent and high-quality services that have been strengthened with an attractive framework of production incentives that allowed the realization of one of the most ambitious projects in Latin America to happen in Colombia.
Colombian hands
The commitment made with the García Márquez family contemplated that at the time of taking Macondo out of the imaginary and placing it in a real place, it should be in Colombia and be built by Colombian hands. Recorded entirely in Colombia and produced by Dynamo, it left its mark throughout the country, with a production team that was made up of more than 900 people, mostly Colombians.
In Alvarado, Tolima, Netflix's Macondo was built on a plot of more than 540,000m2, which was chosen not only for its natural landscapes, but also for its logistical ease. The location team had to find the land and also take care of the adaptation of roads, improvement of accesses, filtrations, installation of tents, adaptation of the soil and topographic studies.
Around 150 artisans from all corners of the country joined this project who, with the collaboration of more than 850 local suppliers, gave life to all the constructions that would make this mythical town tangible. In addition, to meet the demand for a creative team of this magnitude, the first part of One Hundred Years of Solitude represented more than 100,000 hotel nights booked in Ibagué throughout the filming.
The music of the series also provides the distinctive stamp of Colombia with the collaboration of bands such as Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, the drummer of Totó La Momposina, Carmelo Torres and Víctor Navarro. In the costume design, around 40,000 garments were also made, 97% made with textiles of Colombian origin.
