hunt is over

Box Office India 18 September 201026

Shoot Here, Shoot Now Location vs budget… It’s a filmmaker’s eternal dilemma. Shruti Gattani brings you few fab destinations that don’t pinch. And for deeper insights into why they work, Q&As with the government agencies concerned. Here are some tempting facts and figures you might like to save for future reference

France Franck Priot, Deputy Director, FILM France, French Film Commission 1-Crore Rebate Since January 1, 2009, a production that spends at least 1 million euros (Rs 7 crore) in France can avail a special rebate amounting to 20 per cent of the cost in France (not including hotels).

It’s Easy• You must enter the country legally with a (business) visa and work with a French production service company. You can arrive alone or with your crew. There are no restrictions on screenplays. All you need is a filming permit when shooting in public places. These permits are free nearly everywhere in France.

• There are more than 50 running line producing companies in France and at least four of them have a track record of

working on Indian shoots. They provide a range of services, from scouting for locations, organising shoots, assisting with accommodation and permits, and

sourcing crew members, dancers and actors.

• Some regional tourism boards are more than willing to promote their cause by attracting Indian shoots.

• You may shoot at some world-famous landmarks such

as the Eiffel Tower and the Notre-Dame free. And these are only two of the many star locations that bring amazing production value to any feature film.

• The 200 productions shot in France every year range from Hollywood-size movies to low-budget guerilla-style ventures. But they all need crews, locations, accommodation and all kinds of equipment. The service company and the local film commissions are more than willing to help the unit get the best value for money.

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What makes this destination exquisite for filming? Any Indian filmmaker will relate the relationship they share with France, and Paris in particular. Our affair with Indian

cinema has been blossoming with each film.

The South Indian industry is also a major part of the filmmaking

teams that shoot in France. France is unquestionably a treasure trove of fantastic, picturesque locations that add an enormous amount of production value to a film.

Paris Sophie Boudon Vanhille, Mission Cinéma – Paris Film, tells you about some choice offers

Why should a filmmaker come to Paris to shoot a film? Paris is a world cinema capital, a popular and established location for international film production. Around 800 films are made in Paris every year. It has a profusion of talented and highly experienced cinema professionals: acting talent, technical and crew talent. Paris has great stories and fascinating places and sets: 105 sq km, 435 parks and gardens, 161 museums and monuments, 140 theatres, 67 churches and 35 bridges. What are the benefits offered by the film commission or the government? To facilitate filming in Paris, several key

Q&A with Catherine Oden (Director, Atout France) Why should a filmmaker come to Paris to shoot a film? Working with Film France, the government has made it extremely effortless for a filmmaker to realise his dream in Paris. Armed with a valid business visa, a filmmaker can land in Paris by himself or with his entire crew. There are no restrictions on screenplays. Moreover, filming at landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame will cost you nothing. All you have to do is get a filming permit. This permit is easy to acquire and Film France is always there to guide you. What are the benefits offered by the film commission or the government? Once you get a visa and produce legal documents that prove that you are working with a French production company, all you need is a permit to shoot at public locations, which is almost always free. In addition, from January 1, 2009, the government has announced that any production company spending more than Rs 7 crore (1 million euros) will receive a rebate of nearly Rs 1 crore (800,000 euros).

France has a long history of filmmaking and it is still a very active and flourishing industry, enabling it to provide Indian filmmakers with a wide range of services, particularly production companies. Line producers of Indian origin in France can further facilitate the shoot with their expertise and knowledge of location and language.

measures have been introduced by City Hall:- A harmonised fee policy covering the use of sites belonging to the City of Paris.- A website www.parisfilm.fr for cinema professionals, designed to help them prepare film shoots in Paris. Regularly updated, it gives details of over 300 potential locations (some with virtual visits) and specifies conditions for filming and the permits required.- A guide to filming in Paris, for production companies

From the government:To attract international film productions, in December 2008, the French Parliament enacted a law creating an incentive to attract foreign productions to shoot in France.


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The rebate, which is worth 20 per cent of all eligible costs, is capped at 4 million euros. Eligible costs include author’s rights, salaries of actors and crew, technical costs (rentals and purchases), including locations fees, transportation, food, and all fringes. What makes this destination exquisite for filming? Paris offers filmmakers a huge variety or prestigious and evocative settings. Over 4,000 different locations are used by film crews every year. Filmmaking in the city ranges from small-budget films (filming in the streets is free, also the permits) to major productions, from art-house pictures to films with mass appeal.

canada – VancouVer, British columBia In conversation with Susan Croome (British Columbia Film Commissioner)

Why should a filmmaker come to Vancouver to shoot a film?British Columbia’s vast geography gives filmmakers the diversity they need. The province offers some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. From busy urban streets to winter mountain environments within a 20 minute drive, the range of settings available make BC (British Columbia) very cost effective from a locations perspective.

For over thirty years, BC has provided the motion picture industry with an ever-expanding and highly professional cast and crew base, ready and willing to meet the challenges this industry demands. BC has the capacity to crew and service over 40 projects simultaneously and local technicians and craftspeople are experts in their field.

British Columbia offers beautiful west coast scenery, unparalleled recreational opportunities, and exciting sights and attractions set in a spectacular natural environment. Filmmakers who have shot in British Columbia keep coming back knowing that BC has a World of Looks for their motion picture projects and the

support network that makes it all work.

What are the benefits offered by the film commission or the government? The BC Film Commission offers a full range of services to film producers and production companies interested in what our province has to offer. Free services include script breakdowns, digital location web packages, surveys, location

& resource information and ongoing production support.

The BC Film Commission also offers access to a comprehensive digital photo library, which enables filmmakers to ‘picture’ BC’s incredible

range of locations. With more than 200,000 images

and over 14,000 locations on file, BC Film Commission

staff scouts, location managers and other industry professionals use the digital library to compile photo packages for script breakdowns, scouting, and ongoing production and location support.

Our digital photo library has an extensive and diverse representation of our incredible province showcasing a variety of residential and urban areas, supernatural vistas of mountains, deserts, rangelands, country roads, forests, and wild west coast beaches… we even have castles… more than any screenwriter could dream of. The government also offers filmmakers highly competitive tax incentives when filming productions in British Columbia. What are these tax incentives?Provincial tax credit incentives are one of the key drivers of film and television production in the province. British

Columbia’s foreign and domestic tax credits contribute to the province’s ability to attract and sustain production in an increasingly competitive global market. Clients report that BC’s tax incentives are the best and easiest incentives to access in Canada.


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The province’s recently increased rates and new Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit will help keep BC competitive on the international stage and at the forefront of the North American film and television industry.

The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) is a labour-based tax incentive that provides refundable tax credits to Canadian or international film and television production corporations that have incurred eligible labour costs in British Columbia. The company does not have to be a Canadian-owned corporation, and there is no requirement that it have an interest in the copyright.The package includes four specific initiatives based on labour paid to BC residents:

• Basic tax credit (33 per cent) encourages film and television production in British Columbia

• Regional tax credit (6 per cent) stimulates production outside Vancouver

• Distant Location tax credit (6 per cent) provides an additional incentive for productions shooting in more remote locations

• Digital Animation or Visual Effects (DAVE) tax credit (17.5 per cent) promotes the digital animation and visual effects industry in British Columbia.

What makes this destination exquisite for filming? As the third-largest production centre in North America, British Columbia is proud of its international reputation as a full-service production centre and proven track record for providing exceptional

value for the producer’s dollar. It offers close proximity to and is in the same time zone as Los Angeles, and has experienced and highly skilled cast and crew, world-class infrastructure (studios, equipment suppliers, talent agencies).

British Columbia’s position as the third-largest centre for production in North America is built on our reputation for exceptional customer service. All members of our production and post-production community keenly understand the value of customer service in maintaining and expanding our client base. Can you share some anecdotes about film and television production in Brit-ish Columbia? The industry first started here in the late ‘60s, when Robert Altman brought A Cold Day In The Park and McCabe And Mrs Miller to Vancouver, and Mike Nichols shot scenes for his 1971 film


Carnal Knowledge. In the ‘80s, Vancou-ver became a fresh place for Hollywood productions, and the success of locally shot television series like MacGyver, Stingray, Wiseguy and 21 Jump Street proved that British Columbia offered producers a cost effective alternative to Los Angeles. In the last three decades, more than 3,000 domestic and international film and television projects have been shot in BC. Some feature films that have been shot in British Columbia over the years include: Roxanne, Stakeout, The Accused, First Blood, Jumanji, XMEN 2, I Robot, Happy Gilmore, Fantastic Four, Night At The Museum I & II, Juno, The Day The Earth Stood Still, 2012, Twilight Saga: New Moon and Eclipse, Tron: Legacy and The A-Team.

Germany – BaVaria Romit Theophilus (Director, Sales and Marketing – German National Tourist Office, New Delhi) shares some vital details Why Bavaria? Magnificent Alpine scen-ery, beautiful rolling hills and fairytale Rivers and lakes all add up to making Bavaria one of Germany’s best locations for film backdrops.

Located at the very heart of Europe, Bavaria is the perfect all-year-round destination for guests from all over the world.

If this is not enough, Bavaria also offers perfect support of daily

filming/shooting work, and internationally approved

film locations with top-class movies. Name a few big pro-duction houses based in Bavaria.

Plazamedia, Constantin Film and Bavaria Filmstudios,

and last but not least film-support companies such as: Arri, Cinegate and Caligari Filmproduction.

What are the benefits of shooting in Bavaria? In 2008, the Bavarian Film and Televi-sion Fund (FFF) made available a total of approximately 27 million euros for screenplay, production, distribution and sales, as well as theatre funding. Financial support can be requested at each stage of the production process, starting with script funding to packaging, production of theatrical and TV movies as well as exhibition of the same.At least 150 per cent of the production support must be spent in Bavaria, and feature films can be supported with up to 1.6 million euros as long as the producer or co-producer is based in Germany. Foreign producers can only access FFF funding by submitting an

Film Footage

All-in-one Package

Film Permits

Service Centre

Hardware Services

LogisticsInterview Partner

Location Scouting

Media Trips

Events

Photo Archive

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application through a local partner. In cooperation with the FFF, the Bavarian Bank Fund (BBF) is an additional tool in the process of financing projects, which promise economic success.

The allocation committee meets five times a year to decide on recommendations for individual funding categories, distributing the funds for production financing, project development, screenplay, distribution and sales funding. Applications for up-and-coming generation/graduation funding are accepted three times a year. What makes this destination exquisite for filming? The following locations: The Bavarian forest, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Starnberg Five-Lakes-Region, Munich and its surroundings, Romantic Road, and Limes and Altmühl Nature Park.

• Services for the Media Whether you need help to find the perfect location, with logistics, your equipment or with the planning and organisation of entire TV production tours including permits, the one-stop-shop principle ensures a top-quality one-stop service. A well-maintained network is a sure-fire guarantee of success. • Film footageUncut film material about Bavaria is available on request. Individual production of further footage is also available on request.

• Photo archiveDownloadable photos and links to other external photo archives.

• Media trips Standard media trips or personalised tours aim to demonstrate locations for production. • Location scouting For unusual locations to film or acquisition of filming permits, contact the extensive network and local

knowledge is a huge advantage to foreign filmmakers. • Interview partners If required, interview partners can be arranged to complement reporting.

• Logistics For instance, reasonably priced accommodation or transport for the crew.

• Hardware services It has professional partners with international experience on hand from whom filmmakers can hire any technical hardware they may need.

• Filming permits Permits are frequently required for taking photographs or filming. We assist with acquiring the necessary permits.

ukraine A brief chat with Tanya Siryatskaya, Ukrainian Film Commission There are two main reasons that bring filmmakers to the Ukraine: fantastic locations and cost-effective budgets combined with a high level of service. Location-wise, you can find practically everything, from Italian sea shores, Prague’s streets, snow mountains, Irish green hills, American West landscapes, English medieval castles, ultramodern urban landscapes, and for special needs, an unfinished atomic station in the south and the abandoned city of Pripyat in the north.


Being a film-friendly country, the Ukraine has a simplified procedure of getting permissions for shooting: it will take from two to five days to get permission for private locations and 14 days for state institutions. It costs as much as 20 per cent less to shoot in the Ukraine than in Romania, and 40 per cent less then in the Czech Republic, Hungary etc.

The Ukrainian Film School is known for its high professional standards, and Ukrainian specialists are proud of providing excellent services to honourable directors such as Luc Besson, Tornatore, Stelling, Yimou Zhang and Spielberg. In 2006, Ukrainian company Filmotekhnik won two ‘Technical Oscars’ from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, the most prestigious awards in the world of equipment.

In addition to all the above reasons, the Ukraine is a hospitable country and citizens of most countries do not require visas to enter the Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Film Commission The Ukrainian Film Commission (UFC) is a non-profit organisation, which promotes the country as an international filming location and to service international film and TV productions shooting in the region. UFC combines the best local resources to ensure foreign filmmakers the best possible experience on location.

Its staff will assist filmmakers with all their filming needs, from initial scouts and pre-production to principal photography and post-production. The commission also provides professional and timely consulting for production questions, and assists with the inevitable last-minute changes with production needs. Best of all, the assistance comes free of cost!

rome Cristina Priarone, General Director of the Rome Lazio Film Commission, explains why Rome?

The Rome Lazio Film Commission (RLFC) is a rather unusual Film Commission, in that it covers an area where 80 per cent of the filmmaking/AV sector is present in Italy. So its mission is to be a driver for audio-visual production, not merely providing the usual assistance for scouting and shooting, etc.

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In this regard, the RLFC plays a major role in giving the Lazio territory a new high profile in international filmmaking circles. An example is the fact that the European Commission’s MEDIA Programme’s Italian desk operates under the auspices of the RLFC.

In addition, RLFC encourages/develops international co-productions with Co-production Meetings organised as part of the CRC Capital Regions for Cinema group. These meetings (run almost like an informal dating agency matching producers with projects) are an integral part of the network of Film Commissions in the European regions of Ile de France (Paris), Lazio, Comunidad de Madrid and Berlin-Brandenburg.These appointments, held at major international festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Rome and San Sebastian), are now an important fixture for European producers (the 18th edition was held in Cannes 2010, with the 19th due to take place during the International Rome Film Festival at a date to be fixed between October 28 and November 5, 2010).

These meetings now involve more than 150 producers at every meeting. And, once again, with a view to stimulating international co-productions, each meeting also has special guest producers from a non-European guest country, for example from India, New York, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, etc.

Examples of recent sets in our territory, which have received assistance and support from the Rome Lazio Film Commission include: • The Rite by Swedish director Mikael Håfström starring Anthony Hopkins and Colin O’Donoghue. The RLFC supported the production, helping obtain locations for shooting, providing services and


collaborating with the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Rome Superintendence for the scenes shot in the Courtyard of S Ivo alla Sapienza, the headquarters of the State Archives in Rome.

• Elaignan by Krishnan Suresh, an Indian film produced by Martin Production (Chennai – India). It was shot in Central Rome (Collosseum, the Forum, Ponte degli Angeli and Largo Giovanni XXIII), at the parco degli acquedotti and in Cinecittà studios.

• Notizie Degli Scavi by Italian director Emidio Greco, produced by La Fabrichetta. Starring Ambra Angiolini and Giuseppe Battiston. It was shot in Rome and at Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli.

• Cinque Ore Di Luna Piena, the first film by Italian-Danish director Nicolaj Pennestri. Produced by Lello Monteverde and Cristina Zucchiatti’s Leader Film Company and shot at the Fiera di Roma, an area in Rome called EUR, and at the Ripa Hotel. It is shot in English, given that it will be distributed by an American major. It was shot using state-of-the-art technology like the Red Cam.

• Appartamento Ad Atene by Ruggero Dipaola starring Laura Morante. This is a co-production between Italian company L’Occhio e la Luna and the German operation Pandora Filmproduktion. It was made with a contribution of the Italian Ministry of Culture and developed with a contribution from the EU MEDIA programme. Why Rome? Let me explain why producers should come to Rome. It is a historic filmmaking destination. The Lazio region is also home to many other types of lesser-known beauties (hilltop towns, coastal resorts, mountains, lakes etc) that can offer a less conventional and more unusual set for producers wanting to make something that is not just a cliché of classic Rome.

nePal R H Kampani, Ex-Honorary – PRR, Nepal Tourism Board, says filmmakers couldn’t ask for more

Why should a filmmaker come to Ne-pal to shoot a film?Nepal is a popular destination for tourism and film shooting as there are facilities for trekking, boating, rock climbing, H

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bungee jumping, jungle safari, mountain biking, hunting, honey hunting, rafting, kayaking, mountain flights, paragliding, ultralight aircraft, angling/fishing and mountaineering. In fact, it is called the Switzerland of Asia. Hindi film producers have shot Hare Ram Hare Krishna, Love In Nepal and many Bengali films here.

What are the benefits offered by the film commission or the government?There a incentives as such for filming in Nepal. But there are concessions for hotel rates, machinery and other equipment or facilities a producer may need to hire. Also, the film commission offers location scouting services. The Indian rupee is higher in value than the Nepal rupee (1 INR = 1.60 NPR), thus reducing the actual costs even more.

What makes this destination exquisite for filming?Indians do not need foreign exchange. Also, there is connectivity by rail from Rakshoal (Bihar) and air connectivity as well. Five-star and other hotels are available at very attractive rates for film shooting.

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