Terence Cardoz owner of Divine Line Productions who is an International film location specialist and has shot films, documentaries and music videos several international destinations. He is associated with film commissions, production houses and ministries in more than 40 countries. Terence himself is an award winning film maker and well known as “ Terry “ in Bollywood as well as the International film industry. Terence recently was invited to Cuba to experience the destination for film tourism. When we asked Terence for his experience about the trip, he responded “ I was invited by the Ministry of tourism and was hosted by Gran Muthu hotels in Cuba. During my visit , I travelled all across Cuba and visited Havana, Cayo Coco, Holguin, Santiago and Varadero. In terms of filming , I found locations of old Havana amazing for any music videos. A song from Ek Tha Tiger was shot and Havana was portrayed beautifully in that song and some years back even Honey Sing shot a music video in Havana. In terms of filming , I found locations of old Havana amazing for any music videos. For me doing a music video, documentary or an AD commercial in Cuba is not a challenge. My only concern was permissions for action sequences if required in terms of use of drones , Car or bike chase and blasts on the busy streets of old Havana .For that I had a meeting with the people who were responsible for the shoot of the Hollywood film Fast and Furious 8 in Cuba. I was fortunate to meet the tourism minister of Cuba Mr Juan Carlos Garcia Granada and we had a long meeting. He assured me full support for permissions for any kind of shoot in Cuba. I explained to him the importance of film tourism for any destination. As we are strongly involved in film tourism, we ensure that the beauty of the destination is well captured in the film and we also insist the film maker to mention the destination in their film and also during the film promotions. We strongly believe that FILM TOURISM not only boosts tourism , but also investments and trade in any country . I also met one of the top film actress from Cuba Ms Ariana Alvarez. She is a huge fan of Bollywood and hopes to be a part of any Bollywood venture in Cuba. The Tourism Minister now welcomes India for tourism and filming in Cuba and ensured that the Cuban Embassy in Delhi will give all assistance for any kind of projects in Cuba . The management of Gran Muthu hotels in Cuba and also ensured support for Indian film crew visiting Cuba. They even have an Indian chef in their hotels to cater for Indian meals.
