When the subject of production services comes up, Portugal is not usually the first country to roll off the tongue.

But tucked way down in the southwest corner of the Old World, a handful of Portuguese production companies are trying to break down the borders of the country's closed and insular ad market, exposing their fresh and beautiful landscapes, cosmopolitan cityscapes and architecture to the world.

One of the companies leading that charge is Lisbon-based Tangerina Azul Internacional. Playing the production game for six years now, Tangerina decided to dabble in production services a little over two years ago.

"We became one of the biggest companies in Portugal. Because our market is very small, the only way that we could branch out was by going abroad," says Tangerina executive producer Margarida Adónis.

In the last seven months alone, Tangerina has serviced over eight foreign productions, including projects for De Beers, through Frieze Films, South Africa, and JWT, London, directed by Michael Buckley; Karstadt through Palladium, Germany, Grey, Germany, directed by Anouk Besson; and a European campaign for Toyota Corolla via Cineteam, Rome, directed by Fabrizio Mari.

Tangerina is a full-service production services company, with 25 full-time staff. As a production center, Portugal is attractive on many fronts. Financially, Adónis says that shooting in Portugal is about 15 per cent less expensive than in Spain. She compares the relative costs of Portugal to those of South Africa, but notes that for Europeans, travel is cheaper. Tangerina's rates are based on a 15 per cent markup.

Talent considerations in Portugal are also favorable. Portuguese agencies expand the talent pool by bringing actors and models of every ilk into the country for three-month sojourns. In terms of buy-outs, talent receives day rates for spots that run for one year, in one country. Buy-outs are paid if a spot is marketed to a second country or if is picked up for a second year. Second-year and second-country talent rights range anywhere from 150 to 800 per cent of daily talent rates.

Despite attractive rates, fresh locations and being fully equipped for production, Adónis says she is caught in the cycle of dealing with people reluctant to shoot in Portugal because they've never been. It's been an uphill battle, "for the past two years to create a network of people to break the catch 22," says Adónis.

Webfiles:
Tangerina Azul> http://www.tangerinazul.com