The U.S. production, filmed in Colombia and a beneficiary of the CINA incentive, premiered on November 23 on Apple TV+.
Echo 3, a 10-episode action thriller set in South America, was created by Academy Award winner Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty). It stars Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast) and Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones) alongside Jessica Ann Collins (Revolution). Filming took place in several Colombian locations, including Bogotá, Girardot, and Cartagena, between July 19, 2021, and February 25, 2022. Production company Keshet Studios employed more than 400 local people and worked with more than 100 companies in Colombia, including Dynamo, in charge of production services.
Based on the award-winning series When Heroes Fly, created by Omri Givon and inspired by the novel of the same name by Amir Gutfreund, Echo 3 follows Amber Chesborough (Collins), a brilliant young scientist who is the emotional heart of a small American family. When Amber goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Bambi (Evans), and her husband, Prince (Huisman) —two men with deep military experience and complicated pasts— struggle to find her in a layered personal drama set against the explosive backdrop of a secret war. The production also stars Argentina's Martina Gusman (Carancho) as Violetta, a top political columnist, alongside a cast that includes James Udom, Maria Del Rosario, Alejandro Furth, Bradley Whitford, and Colombia's Juan Pablo Raba (News of a kidnapping), among others.
Series creator and showrunner Mark Boal says that "this is a thriller of clandestine operations and a story of national intrigue, set in Colombia, a country I only know from afar and which I fell in love with immediately." Peter Traugott, president of the production company Keshet Studios, adds: "From the moment I first saw the original Israeli series When Heroes Fly, much of which was set and filmed in Colombia, we had hoped to film a U.S. adaptation here as well. Colombia's rich and diverse locations and the wealth of local talent were essential to bringing this production to life on screen. None of this could have happened without the help of the Colombian government and Proimágenes Colombia."
The project is a beneficiary of the Certificate of Audiovisual Investment (CINA), which offers a 35% tax refund on expenses made on audiovisual services in the country. The incentive allowed the production to receive 48 billion Colombian pesos. "Keshet Studios' Echo 3 is one of the largest projects to have applied for the CINA incentive. We are proud that Colombia has been part of such an important production that greatly benefits our country through investment in filming services and employment. Projects of this magnitude are vital to positioning our country as an international production destination. It also represents a recognition of our local talent and the beauty and diversity of the locations where the project was filmed," said Silvia Echeverri, director of the Colombia Film Commission.
Echo 3 is produced by Keshet Studios, the U.S. production arm of Keshet International. Mark Boal also acts as executive producer alongside Peter Traugott, Jason Horwitch, Omri Givon, Eitan Mansuri, Jonathan Doweck, Mark Sourian, Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, and Karni Ziv. Pablo Trapero directed four episodes, including the pilot, and served as executive producer. Boal, Claudia Llosa, and Jeffrey Nachmanoff also directed some series episodes.
Keshet Studios currently has more than a dozen projects in various stages of development or production, including limited and recurring series, short-form dramas, and feature films. Some of its recent productions include the second season of La Brea (NBC) and the first season of The Calling (Peacock) with David E Kelley —both were co-produced with Universal Television— and A Small Light (Nat Geo / Disney+), which will premiere in 2023.
