The news that “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” Netflix’s most ambitious series in Latin America, injected more than $52 million (225 billion Colombian Pesos) into the Colombian economy is gratifying for the thousands of locals who contributed to its making. The reported amount accounts for both direct expenses and the broader ripple effects across the supply chain.
Led by Colombian powerhouse producer Dynamo (“Narcos,” “Echo 3”), the two-part Spanish-language series about the Buendía family employed some 900 mostly Colombian crew members, 150 artisans, thousands of extras and worked with more than 850 suppliers for the construction of the mythical town of Macondo from scratch. Season One of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” led to the booking of more than 100,000 hotel nights in the town of Ibagué during the filming process.
Indeed, this series adaptation of Nobel Literary Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez’s 1967 magnum opus solidifies Colombia’s position as a premier destination for international productions, underscoring the diversity of its landscapes, exceptional talent and top-tier services.
“I believe what we’ve accomplished here is the ability to distill many of the lessons we’ve learned from previous projects, both at our own level and in terms of service,” says Dynamo co-founder-CEO Andrés Calderón who, together with co-founder Diego Ramírez Schrempp, hails from the world of business and finance.
“If we compare it to our previous projects, we almost always had to bring department heads from abroad, be it Mexico or Spain and now, to some extent, we’ve managed to have mostly Colombian department heads. I think for me, that has been one of the most rewarding aspects,” he adds.
“’One Hundred Years’ is a testament to what Latin Americans can accomplish when they get together with a single purpose,” said Paco Ramos, Netflix VP of Latin American Content, at the series’ presentation in Los Angeles, who added: “I would say that 98% of the people who made this show are from Colombia.”
“It’s been the most personal journey for me, I have close ties to the family,” he tells Variety, adding that the author’s sons, Rodrigo García, a filmmaker himself, and Gonzalo García are executive producers.
“In terms of cast, crew and craftsmen, Latin America is growing in spades; we have more highly qualified people who are now capable of living off their craft,” he notes, adding: “It’s been 10 years since Netflix launched its Latino productions with ‘Club de los Cuervos.’ Looking back, it’s amazing how much we’ve progressed,” says Ramos.
Speaking at the LA presentation, Rodrigo Garcia explained that his father didn’t want to have it adapted, that he preferred that “the book live in the imagination of the reader.” “But there were also practical considerations, it didn’t fit in a two-hour movie, a three-hour movie or even a four-hour movie. And then the cost at the time would have meant that it would have to be done in English with Hollywood stars. He was all against it. But he did sometimes muse that if it could be done in many hours and in Spanish and in Colombia, he would consider it. So that was part two and part three, lucky for my brother and me, he always said when I’m dead, do whatever you want, so a lot of therapy,” he laughed.
Incentives
Colombia’s standing as a location has been further bolstered by an appealing framework of production incentives. Thanks to this, more international productions have been tapping its location perks.
For “100 Years,” Netflix tapped the CINA incentive. This is a tax rebate of 35% on location shoot expenses of international projects. It encompasses audiovisual and logistical services contracted with Colombian individuals or companies. The CINA can be transferred to Colombian income tax filers as a tax discount with the annual maximum amount set by the Colombia Film Promotion Committee.
“Without a doubt, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude” is the biggest and most important project to have tapped this incentive and its second season, currently shooting, is also using it,” says Colombian Film Commissioner Silvia Echeverri.
“We work closely with over 30 production service companies that have successfully operated within the incentive system. Designed to be self-sustaining, the system ensures that foreign producers contribute 5% of their project’s eligible expenditures directly to the Colombia Film Commission. These contributions fund our operations, promotional initiatives, and communications efforts. Notably, around 50% of the resources we collect are invested in training and educational programs, fostering the continued growth and development of the industry,” she points out.
Since 2003, following the enactment of Law 814, Colombia has also benefited from a film development fund, managed by Proimágenes Colombia, led by Claudia Triana.
The Colombia Film Fund (FFC) provides a cash rebate covering 40% of audiovisual services expenses and 20% of logistical costs, such as hotel accommodations, food, and transportation. This incentive also requires the participation of a Colombian producer or production service company.
Local producers can avail of this fund but not the CINA incentive while international producers can choose to tap either of them but not both.
The FFC has spurred local production. According to Proimágenes, the year 2024 is set to break records as the most prolific year for Colombian theatrical film releases. Between January and November, 70 local feature films premiered, followed by two additional releases in the first week of December. With two more films expected to debut later in the month, the total is anticipated to reach 74.
‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’
Courtesy of Netflix
Locations
According to Calderón, the biggest challenge for the production was in Episode 1, where José Arcadio Buendia leads his family and neighbors on an exodus to find the sea and establish their utopic village, Macondo. It meant going through nearly half of Colombia, he says, from the peaks of the Páramo de Chingaza to the mangrove swamps on the Magdalena/La Guajira border.
Building the Macondo set from the ground up in Tolima not only meant learning how to build a set but entailed building roads, installing drainage systems and bringing electricity to an undeveloped area spanning 5,812,506 square feet (133.4 acres), he asserts.
Says Echeverri: “Colombian geography is incredibly challenging—brimming with mountains, swamps, and jungles—which has led to towns being founded in some of the most difficult locations. This reality shapes who we Colombians are, defining how we adapt and persevere. Our stories are deeply tied to this exotic and demanding landscape, reflecting how we’ve learned to coexist with each other and our environment every single day.”
“Typically, town squares in Colombia feature a central tree, from which everything branches out. The town is organized around this focal point—the tree, the square, the ever-present church, and the political center, like town halls. This layout is a recurring and defining characteristic of Colombian towns,” notes executive producer Carolina Caicedo.
Given that each eight-episode season spans 50 years, “the challenge for locations and, more broadly, for the story, lies in the passage of time –capturing it in a way that’s both told and visible on screen,” she adds.
‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’
Courtesy of Netflix
Talents
Female Colombian talent ruled across many departments in this epic series, from executive producers Caicedo and Juliana Flórez Luna, co-director Laura Mora, second ADs Claudia Barragán and Camila Rodríguez Beltrán, costume designer Catherine Rodriguez, VFX maven Andrea Espinal, founder of Folks Bogotá, as well as co-writers Natalia Santa and Camila Brugés who worked alongside José Rivera and Albatros González.
“My team is predominantly women, from department heads to assistants. It wasn’t intentional – we just gravitated toward working with women. Many of my team members have been with me on both my films “Killing Jesus” and “Kings of the World,” where women also made up the majority,” says Mora.
The lead actresses ranged from veteran film actress Marleydo Soto in her first TV series role as Ursula, the matriarch of the Buendía family, to Susana Morales, a ballerina with no previous acting experience, who plays the younger Ursula.
For lead Claudio Cataño, who plays Coronel Aureliano Buendía, he worked with his coach Bárbara Perea, for six months. “This wasn’t just about the accent, though we worked on that too, but more about the character’s essence: his way of breathing, speaking and moving,” he says, adding: “A unique privilege of this role was the opportunity to study and build the character’s entire life, from adolescence to old age. This allowed me to craft a complete evolution in formal terms: the vigor and energy of youth, the hardening and complexities of adulthood, and the decline in the twilight years.”
“Preparing for this role involved physical, tonal, interpretive, and emotional work because each stage of the character’s life had its own moments and emotional nuances,” he adds.
The series’ soundtrack carries a distinctly Colombian essence, featuring contributions from Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Toto La Momposina’s drummer, Carmelo Torres and Víctor Navarro.
Claudio Cataño, Laura Mora and Camila Bruges
Credit: Netflix, Julian Gaviria
Storytelling
Adapting what was long considered unadaptable took years of preparation across all aspects of the production. For the scriptwriting team, this meant extensive research into the periods described in the book. “We wanted to remain true to what that region could have been like during those hundred years. However, we also drew inspiration from what Gabo [García Márquez] was trying to achieve. He wasn’t writing a historical account but a work of fiction, taking certain creative liberties. That’s why it was fascinating to find a balance between accuracy and creative freedom, as we weren’t making a documentary about Colombia,” says Brugés.
“We are often asked whether our adaptation was meant to be universal or specifically for Colombians. From our perspective, we simply tried to remain faithful to the novel, which automatically makes it Colombian and, at the same time, universal,” she notes.
Delving further into the writing process, she adds: “We didn’t alter the novel’s written scenes; instead, we focused on two areas: First, organizing the non-linear narrative. Gabo’s shifts in time required us to structure events chronologically, resolving inconsistencies for dramatic coherence.”
“Second, expanding on implied moments. For instance, he often summarizes scenes, like a ‘dreamlike love,’ without detailed dialogue or action. We interpreted these to create scenes and conversations that captured the story’s essence and poetic tone,” she continues.
For Mora, who is more used to working on location, her challenge was adapting to work on a set: “I was obsessed with making the town feel real, not like a set. For me, personally, working on such a massive production with so many people, there’s no such thing as a small scene in ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude.’ Even if the script simply says, ‘Úrsula walks down a street,’ that translates to 120 extras, carriages, animals, wind, hours of costume fittings and prosthetics.”
“For a director, time becomes a huge challenge. How much time do you really have to shoot versus how much you need to prepare? It demands an incredible amount of planning and coordination,” she muses.
‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’
Courtesy of Netflix
