Hi,

I am Matias Baridon from Uruguay, South America.

I went to college in Missouri, USA for 3 years where I majored in Mass Comm. with enphais on video production.

I am now back in Uruguay and started my production company with 3 other associates. We shot a lot of concerts for a local network, and did various add spots.

I also worked in production for Michael Mann's "Miami Vice" for the scenes shot in Uruguay.

I encourage filmmakers to give Uruguay a shot, for various reasons, such as great weather, extremely low costs and excelent profesionalism.

Nice to meet everyone.

Hi Matias, welcome aboard (H)DV Info Net, good to have you with us!

Hi Matias, I was just looking up info on Uruguay, sounds like a great place, almost like FL, but south of the equator. How is the infrastructure (Internet, roads, communciations...) Montevideo and Punte Del Este appear to be hoppin places.

Hey Joe,

Sorry for taking so long to get back here... I've been very busy this past month. We are shooting some commercials.

Internet - DSL connections with good speeds. Most common is 512Kb, but you can get faster if you want. Dial-up is rarely used. There are also lots of Wi-Fi hotspots at restaurants and hotels. You can also connect via cell phone GPRS using a laptop computer at almost any point of the country.

Roads - Nothing like US highways, but nice paved roads with a few tolls. The road from Montevideo to Punta del Este is excellent. It has public lighting almost all the way, very smooth pavement and good signals.

Communications - Pretty much the same as in any 1st World country. We have 3 major cell phone service providers, GSM cell phone system, worldwide connectivity, GPRS/EDGE WAP service.

Locations - Great, very accessible and diverse. We have almost everything but mountains, but we can arrange with partners at Argentina/Chile to shoot at the Andes mountain formations or any other location of interest.

Weather - Very nice and comfortable weather during the months of November-May while we are in summer. The opposite summer season is great to have summer seasons commercials shot during North-Hemisphere winter.

Health - No unusual vaccines or medicine required to enter the country. Its safe of epidemics.

Safety - People are very friendly and respectful. Safe to walk all around city at day, and night.

Hotels - Major hotels, such as Sheraton, and other top of the line hotels.

Crew - Very friendly and professional with flexible working hours. There are no work unions associated with the movie industry; therefore extra hours and long shooting schedules do not become highly expensive.

Equipment - A huge variety of professional equipment available at Musitelli (www.musitelli.com), and the possibility of bringing other specific equipment from Argentina.

Talent - The ethnically diverse population represents a huge range of looks and styles.

Any other specific information about shooting in Uruguay, please e-mail me at mbaridon@microtime.tv

Major North American and European companies have trusted their commercial shoots to Uruguay.

Michael Mann chose Uruguay for specific scenes of Miami Vice.

For sure, it is a good option to get a low cost production at an excellent pro level.