Criteria Films · Panama, since 2010
Stories, made film.
Explainers, series, documentaries, ads and shorts for institutions and brands with something to say.
Tell us about your filmCriteria Films reel
We’ve worked with
Selected work
Behind every film there’s a story. What’s yours?
They have a unique ability to transform an idea or a written word into visual masterpieces that educate and engage audiences across cultural and geographic boundaries. Perhaps the greatest indicator of the quality of their work is the fact that we have been working together for more than a decade.
Originals
Productions of our own.
We push our creativity to the limit with our own productions, where we test techniques and tools before they ever reach your projects.
See Criteria Originals
Why us
What you get working with us
Experience
Twenty years solving what your team needs.
Founded in Panama in 2010. Since 2015, the Bertelsmann Foundation North America’s animation studio.
Method
You know what happens at every stage, and nothing moves without your sign-off.
Script and storyboard approved before production. The same four stages on every film.
Storytelling
Dense topics, told so they’re understood and remembered.
Our films have 1.5 million views on the Bertelsmann Foundation’s channel.
YouTube, September 24, 2026
Adaptability
One production for every audience, language and format.
Explainers, series, documentaries, ads and shorts. GAPP: one program told to three audiences from the same footage.
Transparency
You know what it costs before you ask, and how we make it.
Our rates are published and the same for every client: you build your order in the quote builder and see the total. And we say where we use AI.
Quote builder
Build your project and see what it costs.
Play with our rates: pick the minutes, add languages, formats or filming and watch the price change as you go. When it adds up, send us the order. You pay nothing now.
Video 1
The film
3 min
The material we review, select and organize.
The length of the finished film.
The volume discount uses the minutes of the whole order
What each minute includes
- Script written from your material: a report, a study, a program
- Storyboard or style frames your team approves before production
- AI animation or edit, music and mix
- AI voice-over in one language
- Two rounds of changes at each stage you approve
- Delivery in HD (1080p), H.264 file
Details
- Minutes are counted per order or per annual bundle: you buy the year’s minutes and split them across projects over 12 months. The tier is set when you sign and applies to all those minutes.
- The discount applies to the finished minute and the editing minute; everything else keeps its price.
- The price is fixed once you approve the script, because that sets the length.
What each minute includes
- We edit your interviews, events or photos: no animation and no script from scratch.
- Includes music, mix and two rounds of changes.
Languages and formats
LanguagesUS$200/min · US$400 min.English
Tick every language of the film. The first is included; each extra one adds US$200/min (US$400 min.).
- Translation, AI voice-over and on-screen text in any language you need.
- Charged per minute of the film and per language, with a US$400 minimum per language.
- For a human voice, add human voice-over.
FormatsUS$100/min · US$200 min.16:9
Tick every format. The first is included; each extra one adds US$100/min (US$200 min.).
- Re-edited vertical, square, teaser or no-sound version for social.
- Charged per minute of the film and per format, with a US$200 minimum per format.
Subtitles in another languageUS$50/min · US$150 min.
Subtitles without dubbing: US$50 per minute per language (US$150 min.).
- Translation and SRT file, no dubbing.
- Per minute of the film and per language, with a US$150 minimum per language.
Human voice-overA professional voice in every ticked language, US$150/min (US$600 min. per language).
- A professional voice instead of the included AI voice-over.
- Per language, with a US$600 minimum per language.
Delivery
ResolutionHD included · 4K +20%HD 1080p
- Delivery is in HD (1080p) by default.
- 4K (2160p) adds 20% to the order total: heavier render and files.
Other file formatsUS$50 per copyH.264
Included: H.264. Tick the extra copies you need; each one adds US$50.
- Delivery includes one HD (1080p) H.264 file.
- Each copy in another file format (ProRes, DNxHR, H.265…) adds US$50.
Your order
For the whole order
Rush delivery+30%
- To deliver in under 2 weeks from receiving the material.
- Adds 30% to the order total.
My organization is in Panama+7% ITBMS
- If your organization is in Panama, 7% ITBMS (Panama’s sales tax) is added to the total.
- Services to organizations outside Panama carry no ITBMS.
FilmingPer crew and per day, gear included · from US$900No filming
Half days are available (5 hours, at 60%).
The first one is included. Each extra camera, with its operator: US$450 per day (up to 3).
Quoted separately: models and talent, locations, props and art, permits, travel and per diems.
- Every crew includes its gear (one camera, lighting and sound): no separate rental charge.
- Extra cameras: each with its own operator, US$450 per day; up to 3 per crew.
- A 10-hour day.
- Half day (5 hours): 60% of the day rate.
- The per-minute volume discount doesn’t apply to filming.
Your project
Tell us about the project and who you are. It reaches us with the order you built.
Your order
You pay nothing now. We confirm scope and dates within one business day.
Rather talk it through?
We got your order
Here’s what happens next:
- Within one business day we write to confirm material, scope and dates. If you like, we go over it on a 20-minute call.
- We agree on payment terms and start.
- The price is locked once you approve the script.
The process
The same four stages, every film
Brief
You send the material or the idea, who it’s for and the length you need.
Pre-production
We write the script and you approve it. Then the storyboard: the look of the film, frame by frame.
you sign off here
Production
Animation, edit or shoot, music and voice-over, following the approved storyboard.
Post-production
Mix, color and versions for every language and format. You review the cut, we adjust, then deliver.
Who directs
Every film has a director behind it, not a button
Juan Pablo de Gamboa directs every Criteria Films project. He has spent 20 years directing documentaries and institutional films for UNICEF, the IDB and the Bertelsmann Foundation, among others, and founded the studio in Panama in 2010.
At Criteria, AI is there to make more with the same budget, not to invent people or numbers: a person checks every figure against your source, and your team approves the script before a single frame is animated.
Juan Pablo de Gamboa · Director, Criteria Films
What people usually ask
What kind of films do you make?
Explainers, animated series, documentaries and documentary animation, leader profiles, brand films, ads and shorts. If your story needs to be understood and remembered, we’d love to tell it.
Can you keep it confidential?
Of course. Drafts and unpublished material are used only to make your film, and we’re happy to sign an NDA if you need one.
How long does it take?
We set the calendar together, counting from the day you send the material. A 2–3 minute film usually takes 3 to 4 weeks. In a hurry? We can do it in under two weeks with a rush fee.
What do I need to get started?
Just your material (a report, notes, interviews, whatever you have) and the date you need the film by. We write the script from there, and you approve it before anything moves.
What happens after I order?
Nothing is charged when you send it. Within one business day we get back to you to confirm the material, scope and dates, and we agree on how you’d like to pay. The price is locked once you approve the script.
I’m not sure yet what I need. Can we talk first?
Of course. Book a 20-minute call or message us on WhatsApp, and we’ll figure it out together. Talking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
What about AI?
We use it in almost every step so your budget goes further, and we always say so. What we don’t do is generate realistic images of people or make up data: a person checks every figure against your source, and nothing is animated until you approve the script.
Which languages?
Any language you need. From the same production we make a dubbed version or add subtitles, with an AI or human voice. You add them in the quote builder, under “Languages and formats”.
Can I get versions for social media?
Yes. From the same film we cut vertical, square, teaser or silent versions, so you don’t pay for a new production for each channel.
What if I need more changes?
Each stage includes two rounds of changes. If you need more, we quote them for you before making them. And if you spot a wrong figure in the film, we fix it for free, even after delivery.
I already have footage. Can you edit it?
Happily. Choose “Editing only” in the quote builder: we review your material, pick the best of it and turn it into a finished film.
Can you film too?
Yes. We have crews of 2, 4 or 7–8 people, with camera, light and sound included. Travel, locations and talent are quoted separately.
What will I receive?
Your film in HD 1080p, ready to publish. If you need 4K or another file format, like ProRes, you add it in the quote builder.
Do you work with organizations outside Panama?
Yes. We work remotely with teams in other countries and bill in US dollars from Panama. Panamanian VAT (ITBMS) is only added if your organization is in Panama.
Who owns the film?
We agree on the rights with you in the proposal, before we start, so there are no surprises later.
Not yet?
See how other projects turned out
Full case studies: what was asked, what we decided and what happened next, with a source for every figure.
Bertelsmann Foundation and Aspen Ministers Forum · 2021–2025
Five years of crises, told by the people who lived them
11×
the views of a typical 2024 video on the channel, for the Bobi Wine episode (63,712)
See the case →
Bertelsmann Foundation · 2024
A series people looked for, watched and argued about
10×
the views of a typical 2024 video on the channel, for the Electoral College film (55,962)
See the case →
Bertelsmann Foundation and PERIL (American University) · 2020
A film that changed what its viewers thought
512
U.S. adults watched the full film and took the same survey before and after
See the case →