ASIDE from being the country’s theme park capital, Subic Bay is also earning raves as a prime location for filming movies and television shows.

Jem Camba, head of the Tourism Department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), said that a lot of movie and TV producers and directors bring their production to Subic because of the unique environment at the former US Naval Base.

“Subic has almost everything for the required locations. We have forests and mountains, rivers and the sea, theme parks, factories and entertainment facilities, and the remnants of the former military base,” Camba pointed out.

“This is the reason why a lot of local and some foreign movies are being shot in the Subic Bay Freeport,” she added.

IDEAL LOCATION

Amelia Torralba-Perez of Mandala Video and Events Production, also described Subic as an excellent place for location shooting.

“We can find everything here in Subic,” Perez said. “We have world-class accommodations, we have good food, and for the longest time we’ve been here, people in SBMA are not giving us a hard time. That is why we are coming back here with all of our projects.”

Perez was in Subic recently for the location shoot of the History TV series “Celebrity Car Wars”, an Amazing Race-like show with cars and celebrities from Asian nations doing extreme challenges on cars.

Perez said that since 2005, she has been referring Subic as a location site for various television and movie production, such as the Discovery Channel, BBC, the TV series “Jack Irish”, as well as some American, Japanese and French shows.

POTENTIAL STUDIO

In June this year, an episode of the documentary series entitled “Before the 90 Days” for The Learning Channel (TLC) was filmed in Subic with contributors American Lawrence  Passariello and his Filipino girlfriend Jenny de Guzman.

Camba also said that Tourism Promotion Board CEO Cesar Montano had recently noted that Subic would be a perfect place for some kind of a Universal Studios facility.

He had reportedly told SBMA Chairman Martin Diño about this. Montano also said in a TV interview that Subic has all the must-have things for filming, including an airport, ocean park, rain forest, zoo, port, and highway.

Among the first movies shot in here was “Goodbye America.” The 1997 action-drama portrayed the closing of the Subic Naval Base and how it affected the lives of the people in surrounding communities and the Americans who had served in the base.