Location2013 by Boutique Editions

LOCATION2013 SHOWCASING THE GLOBAL FILM PRODUCTION INDUSTRY

PUBLISHED BY BOUTIQUE EDITIONS LIMITED

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J U S T

R I G H T.

FILM IN SCOTLAND

FOR THE PERFECT LOCATION For business. For vacation. For your next movie. FilmSC.com CAHIER DE COUVE.indd 2

www.creativescotlandlocations.com E locations@creativescotland.com T +44 (0) 141 302 1723/35

Image ÂŠ Dougie Johnston/Scottish Viewpoint

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1000’s of locations, 8 Sound Stages, 3 Water Tanks... 1 choice for your next Production.

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With 10,844m 2 (116,727sq ft) of stage space

Past Productions include:

plus 3 heated and filtered water tanks totalling

• TV Series Terra Nova - Fox Television

9.4 million liters (2.48 million gallons), full

• Bait 3D - Bait Productions

support facilities and a comprehensive network

• Sanctum - A Great Wight Production

of service companies to provide valuable

• Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader -

experience and equipment for your Production, Village Roadshow Studios is Australia’s premier

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Take the Plunge Downunder

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facility for water themed film and television production.

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Recent movies created using the Village Roadshow Studios’ tank facilities

NIM’S ISLAND Walden Media

SANCTUM 3D

Twentieth Century Fox and Walden Media

Director: Alister Grierson

A Great Wight Production and Universal Studios

Director: Michael Apted

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24A

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Directed by: Mark Levin & Jennifer Flackett

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

Queensland: Entertainment Road, Oxenford, Gold Coast, QLD Australia 4210. Tel +61 7 5585 9666 Fax +61 7 5573 3698 USA: Village Roadshow Pictures, 100 N. Crescent Drive, Suite 323, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Tel +1 310 385 4300 Fax +1 310 385 4301

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WORLD-CLASS FILM STUDIOS, A WIDE RANGE OF INSPIRING LOCATIONS, DEPTH OF EXPERIENCED CREW, OSCAR® WINNING TALENT AND COMPETITIVE FILM AND TV PRODUCTION INCENTIVES. JOIN US TO LEARN MORE AT AUSFILM WEEK 2013.

Connect with leading Australian Filmmakers and Television Producers at Ausfilm Week 2013 to discover the incentives Australia has to offer international production partners.

Ausfilm Week London: 13th – 16th October 2013 Ausfilm Week Los Angeles: 21st – 24th October 2013 For more information about Ausfilm Week events contact us at info@ausfilm.com.au

AUSFILM – HEAD OFFICE SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA T: + 61 2 9383 4192 E: INFO@AUSFILM.COM.AU

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AUSFILM – LA OFFICE LOS ANGELES, USA T: + 1 310 229 2362 E: INFO@AUSFILM.COM.AU

I would recommend working in Australia to any film director, I can say without reservation it was the best crew I ever had in my life. It's a surprising and gifted country where there's surprises around every corner, and the people are incredibly charming and hard working James Mangold, Director, The Wolverine and full of imagition. WWW.AUSFILM.COM

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AUSFILM CONNECTING FILMMAKERS WORLDWIDE TO AUSTRALIA

THE WOLVERINE: © 2013 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION / © 2013 MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT HAPPY FEET 2: © 2011 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC / © 2011 VILLAGE ROADSHOW FILMS LIMITED RED DOG: © WOSS GROUP FILM PRODUCTIONS PTY LTD PROMETHEUS: © 2012 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX SANCTUM: © UNIVERSAL PICTURES TED: © UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, MRC. THE RAILWAYMAN: © PICTURES IN PARADISE THE SAPPHIRES: © GOALPOST PICTURES THE GREAT GATSBY: © 2013 BAZMARK FILMS PTY LTD

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INTRODUCTION - MASTHEAD

SHOWCASING THE GLOBAL FILM PRODUCTION INDUSTRY

EDITOR JULIAN NEWBY MANAGING EDITOR DEBBIE LINCOLN CONTRIBUTORS CLIVE BULL, ANDY FRY PUBLISHER RICHARD WOOLLEY ART DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN ZIVOJINOVIC - WWW.ANOIR.FR PUBLISHED BY BOUTIQUE EDITIONS LTD - 117 WATERLOO ROAD - LONDON SE1 8UL - UNITED KINGDOM - T: +44 20 7902 1942 - F: +44 20 3006 8796 - WWW.BOUTIQUEEDITIONS.COM ADVERTISING SALES JERRY ODLIN INTERNATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR - JODLIN@BOUTIQUEEDITIONS.COM LISA RAY SALES MANAGER - LRAY@BOUTIQUEEDITIONS.COM NICKI WEBBER ACCOUNT MANAGER (NORTH AMERICA) NWEBBER@BOUTIQUEEDITIONS.COM KAREN WATTS ACCOUNT MANAGER (SOUTH AMERICA) - KWATTS@BOUTIQUEEDITIONS.COM. THE PAPER USED BY BOUTIQUE EDITIONS IS A NATURAL, RECYCLABLE PRODUCT MADE FROM WOOD GROWN IN SUSTAINABLE FORESTS. THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS CONFORMS TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS OF THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS EDITED FROM SUBMISSIONS PROVIDED BY THE INDIVIDUAL COMMISSIONS AND ORGANISATIONS. ALTHOUGH A REASONABLE EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE IN COMPILING THIS INFORMATION, BOUTIQUE EDITIONS LTD ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ACCURACY. THE PUBLISHER ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK. COPYRIGHT ©2013 BOUTIQUE EDITIONS LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART OF ANY TEXT, PHOTOGRAPH OR ILLUSTRATION WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION OF BOUTIQUE EDITIONS LTD IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED

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INTRODUCTION - CONTENTS

CO N TEN TS

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LOCATION2013 SHOWCASING THE GLOBAL FILM PRODUCTION INDUSTRY

PARENTAL GUIDANCE Billy Crystal loves shooting on location. And he tells Location magazine, if there are crowds watching so much the better

12 FAIRY TALES A look at the locations that are casting a spell over the world’s top fantasy ﬁlmmakers

20 THE GREAT GATSBY Some 39 years after the Robert Redford classic, Leonardo DiCaprio is reviving the role of Jay Gatsby

74 36 TOP OF THE LAKE Writer and director Jane Campion talks to Location magazine about her ﬁrst-ever TV series

IN PICTURES A collection of images of stunning locations around the world, some famous on the big screen, some yet to be discovered

DESERTS The rich ﬁlmic opportunities to be found in the world’s most desolate landscapes

62 EUROPE Europe has every location a ﬁlmmaker could wish for, and it also really wants your business

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KENYA ON SCREEN

Kenya is growing in popularity as a ﬁlm location and as a source of great stories

78 SOUTHERN STATES What makes a ﬁlmmaker travel south in the US to ﬁlm? Is it the story, the locations, the people or the budget?

82 CANADA It’s big, it’s calm and it’s beautiful. And it oﬀers generous incentives and a century of production expertise

87 DEATH IN PARADISE Cast and crew struggle with the weather and other challenges on the beautiful island of Guadeloupe

SMOKE AND MIRRORS Part of the magic of cinema is that you can be transported to another time and place. But is it always the place that you think it is?

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96 RESTLESS Meet the cast, crew and writer of this two-part TV drama in which the South African countryside doubled for the Scottish moors

99 WOODY ALLEN Blue Jasmine is the 2013 release for the writer/director. This time he shoots on the streets of San Francisco

OUR COVER SHOWS HARDY REEF NEAR WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. The Whitsundays consist of 74 islands located in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef —the world’s largest coral reef — on the tropical coast of Queensland. The reef contains an abundance of marine life and comprises over 3,000 individual reef systems and coral islands and hundreds of picturesque tropical islands with some of the world’s most beautiful sun-soaked, golden beaches. Among the many ﬁlms to have used the Great Barrier Reef as a location are: The Reef (2010), Nim’s Island (2008), Fool’s Gold (2008), Aquamarine (2006), Sabrina Down Under (1999), Muriel’s Wedding (1994), and Dead Calm (1989). (Photo, courtesy Tourism Queensland / Murray Waite & Assoc)

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LIFE ON LOCATION

LIFE ON LOCATION - PARENTAL GUIDANCE

BILLY CRYSTAL LOVES SHOOTING ON LOCATION. AND, HE TELLS CLIVE BULL, IF THERE ARE CROWDS OF ONLOOKERS WATCHING THE SHOOT, EVEN BETTER…

MEET THE GRANDPARENTS “PARENTAL Guidance [2012] is my grandparent movie,” Billy Crystal says. While City Slickers (1991) reflected a turningforty crisis and When Harry Met Sally (1989) was in his romantic period, Crystal’s latest project takes the theme of two grandparents babysitting for their grandchildren while the parents are away. “It’s a horror story!” he says. The movie sees him playing fading baseball commentator Artie Decker, a man who is accustomed to getting his own way, but who meets his match when he and his eager-to-please wife Diane (Bette Midler) agree to babysit their three grandchildren while their type-A helicopter parents Alice and Phil (Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott) are away for work. Also a producer of the film, Crystal says his preference is to be shooting scenes at a real location, often with the public looking on. “I always like that,” he says. “I always like being in the real place doing the real thing rather than on a sound stage some place. It’s fun.” Early scenes in the grandparents’ home were shot in Alpharetta, Georgia, doubling for Fresno, after which the action moves to Atlanta. Alice and Phil’s house is in the suburb of Dunwoody, where filming took place for nearly three weeks. They live in an automated residence, fully web-connected and

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BILLY CRYSTAL, BETTE MIDLER, JOSHUA RUSH, BAILEE MADISON AND KYLE HARRISON BREITKOPF STAR IN PARENTAL GUIDANCE

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LIFE ON LOCATION - PARENTAL GUIDANCE

apparently able to run itself — the kind of ‘smart home’ currently more prevalent in Japan. According to Crystal, Atlanta was an obvious choice of location for the film. “A lot of movies shoot in Atlanta because they give a great tax benefit so you can get more for your money. But they don’t say they’re in Atlanta. They’ll shoot Atlanta for Connecticut or the suburbs for Chicago. We said you know what? It looks really pretty. Why don’t we just write that they’re in Atlanta?” Crystal says. “And so we got even more tax benefits!” he jokes. “It’s a great town to shoot in.” The scene featuring Artie’s audition to be an announcer at the X Games was a two-day shoot in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park, where a half-pipe was constructed and skateboarding stars, including the world-famous Tony Hawk, impressed cast and crew with their talents. Director Andy Fickman (She’s The Man, 2006; The Game Plan, 2007) took the production to the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta for another two-day shoot where the Deckers and their grandchildren watch a classical music concert that features the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra. Crystal says that sometimes a location can end up introducing unexpected elements into a film. “When we were shooting a scene in a subway tunnel — actually, only part of the scene is left in the movie — there was great echo where we were, because of the tiles.” he says. “So to entertain the kids who were getting a little fidgety, Bette and I just started singing these old rock’n’roll songs and it was so much fun I turned to her and said to her we should do a song in the movie. ‘No, no I don’t want to sing in a movie, that’s what they’re expecting’. I thought if we could find a place… and I started writing in my mind how it could work. And then she said: ‘D’you know what? Let’s do it’. And it ended up as a very charming moment in the movie.” Georgia offers a 20% Film, Television and Digital Entertainment Tax Credit on productions that spend $500,000 or more, and an additional 10% grant for embedding a Georgia logo in the film title or credits. A Twentieth Century Fox film, Parental Guidance is now out on DVD and Blu-ray.

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F E AT U R E

FEATURE - fairy tales

once

uPon atIme maGIcal storIes call for maGIcal backdroPs. CLIVe BULL looks at the real locatIons that are castInG a sPell over the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toP fantasy fIlmmakers

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FEATURE - fairy tales

AnGeLInA JOLIe AS MALEFICENT IN ROBERT STROMBERG’S FILM OF THE SAME NAME, TO BE RELEASED IN 2014

NOBODY really knows when most fairy tales began life. We can go back to the early 1800s, when the Brothers Grimm started collecting plots and characters in order to preserve the stories that had been passed on only by word of mouth. But one thing’s for sure: fairy tales never go out of fashion and it is the cinema that now breathes new life into the myths and legends of old. among the first fairy tales told on film was Disney’s groundbreaking snow White and the seven Dwarfs (1937) and a wide range of magical stories have been told and retold ever since. the popularity

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New Zealand. Home of Filmmakers

Also home of Hobbits, Na’vi, General MacArthur, residents of Laketop, Spartacus and the Evil Dead

From the creatures of Middle-earth to beings from other worlds, New Zealand inspires filmmakers to bring amazing characters and incredible stories to life. We offer world-class locations, crews, VFX and generous financial incentives. Whatever you’re filming, by working with Film New Zealand and our network of regional film offices, you can count on getting the support your production needs. Please find out more, by getting touch with us.

filmauckland.com • filmventuretaranaki.com • filmwellington.com filmotagosouthland.com • filmdunedin.co.nz

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FEATURE - fairy tales

/// of tim Burton’s alice in Wonderland (2010), which

grossed over $1bn (€780m) worldwide, kick-started the most recent resurgence of the genre. Box-oﬃce success for Oz the Great and Powerful and Jack the Giant slayer this year (2013) underlines the enduring appeal of these classic stories. fairy tales are a rich vein of mostly copyright-free material and there are already more productions in the pipeline. finding the right location when you are looking to create an imaginary world isn’t the easiest task, but there are certain spots that are proving firm favourites with fantasy filmmakers. Bryan singer’s Jack the Giant slayer, a modern reworking of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale, chose to shoot in the UK, having tracked down

JACK The Giant Slayer climbs a cliﬀ built at Bourne Wood, in Surrey, UK

some seemingly timeless settings. a key location was Puzzlewood, an ancient woodland in the forest of Dean. Without any enhancement, it already looks very like what you might find at the top of a giant beanstalk. “there are ancient iron-ore mines, that hundreds of years ago were buried away and, just through natural erosion, the tops of them have worn away,” Puzzlewood manager Helen O’Kane, says. “you have yew trees growing through the rocks. you get these amazing structures with roots that you can see splitting the rock, with trees sitting on top of them.” While scouting for locations, production designer Gavin Bocquet visited and photographed the woods at four different times of the year to capture the different looks across the seasons. Many believe that tolkien took inspiration from Puzzlewood for Middle earth. “People who dispute that, when they come here, find it

The Huntington

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FEATURE - fairy tales

/// takes their breath away,” O’Kane says. the production also spent two

weeks in somerset taking advantage of another natural beauty spot, Cheddar Gorge, a 449-foot (137-metre) deep ravine, made less beautiful for the production by the addition of stone gargoyles of ugly giants. snow White and the Huntsman (2012) is another fairy tale with a twist. supervising location manager on the production, Bill Darby, says even with a fantasy world it helps to have a real-life location as your starting point. “for the actors and director, it’s harder to get into the right place creatively if it’s a completely artificial environment,” he says. “and when you’re shooting, you want what you’re shooting the actors against to be real. you can augment the background later. you shoot against a physical piece of landscape or location and then build on that. you can top up a building, for instance, but you might build the first 10 or 20 feet of it.” the all-action scene where snow White and her army invade the castle required a long sandy beach with a tidal island in the distance. after a “very protracted search”, the production chose Marloes sands, a remote, 1.5 km beach in Pembrokeshire in Wales. the battles in the sand were all real, the only enhancement being a CGi castle on the island. the search for the ‘enchanted forest’ led Darby to Bears rails in Windsor Great Park. “it’s about as close to a fantasy english wood as you can get, with a number of ancient oaks up to 800 years old,” he says. “it does look enchanting when you get there, but we added all the fairies and mushrooms and moss in order to achieve the overall effect.” Bourne

HOrSeS CHArGInG in Snow White And The Huntsman, ﬁlming at the UK’s Bourne Wood

Wood in surrey played host to both snow White and the Huntsman and Jack the Giant slayer. Pam eastwood, UK forestry Commission film liaison officer, says the fairy tale boom has meant a busy period for Bourne Wood. “it’s the perfect place for this sort of movie as there is room to build large constructions and space to have a horse charge, but it’s surrounded by trees, which blocks out any sign of modern-day habitation,” she says. “and i’m able to provide the movie company’s set dressers with most types of vegetation for any further enhancements to their set.” a large cliff was constructed with a built-in stream for Jack the Giant slayer. “this meant a big hole had to be dug for a tank of water, which was pumped round and round,” eastwood says. “for snow White, the whole area was made to look blackened and burned, so black snow was used, and black camouflage nets were thrown over the heather to disguise the purple flowers.” Disney’s Maleficent (2014) tells the sleeping Beauty tale from the perspective of the princess’ evil nemesis. While based at Pinewood, members of the public caught occasional glimpses of angelina Jolie when the production ventured out into the english countryside for the large-scale exterior scenes. Darby, who also acted as supervising location manager for Maleficent, says they chose Bullstrode Park in Gerrards Cross because it offered the acres of undulating grassland they needed. “We had space there for 125 horses and soldiers, and we built a large green screen that we couldn’t fit in the studio at the time — a wall 40-ft high and 120-ft long…” the fairy-tale theme continues for Darby, who is about to start work on the forthcoming live-

BILL darBY “for the actors and dIrector, It’s harder to Get Into the rIGht Place creatIvely If It’s a comPletely artIfIcIal envIronment”

FASCINATING FILMING LOCATIONS www.filmfinland.fi | info@filmfinland.fi

Photo: Visit Finland / Elina Sirparanta

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FEATURE - fairy tales

/// action remake of Cinderella, also to be based at Pinewood and in the

surrounding countryside. The folk fairy tale Hansel And Gretel, first chronicled by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, was given a darker, modern-day treatment in Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013). Co-writer and director Tommy Wirkola was determined to shoot the movie in natural outdoor sets, and with a European feel. Appropriately, he chose Germany, homeland of the original story. Markus Bensch, location executive at Berlin’s Studio Babelsberg, says a lot of work went into finding an oldworld forest, free from human interference. “Hansel And Gretel has a very German feel to it — timber-frame architecture, ancient forests, generally a medieval look,” he says. “We had somebody scouting for locations who used to work as a lumberjack, who knows forests very well and who knows how to talk to the forest authorities. He led us to the right forest, which has been there for hundreds of years, but never been in a film. Funnily enough, we’d always been looking for that kind of forest close to Berlin — and there it was, right in front of our noses.” Ironically, Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm (2005) was not filmed in Germany, but in the Czech Republic. And despite that country’s wide variety of woodland, the production did not shoot the forest scenes on location at all. “For Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), we had to find all kinds of forests,” Denisa Strbova, project manager for the Czech Film Commission, says. “The most curious thing is that, for The Brothers Grimm, there was no shooting in a real forest — the forest was completely built in the Barrandov studios in Prague.”

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Jeremy Renner on the set of Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters with writer-director Tommy Wirkola

The film did take advantage of the historic buildings around Prague, however, including the castles of Ledec, Kacin and Krivoklat. “Prague’s period architecture is still the main draw for foreign filmmakers,” Strbova says. “The city has one of the best preserved historical centres in Europe — a unique mixture of architectural styles: medieval castles, stone bridges, gothic cathedrals, baroque churches, renaissance palaces and modernist buildings from the 20th century.” The fantasy-film series that has had the biggest impact on its host nation is unquestionably The Lord Of The Rings/The Hobbit franchise. New Zealand director Peter Jackson has always been fiercely loyal

Jared Connon “I don’t think you could find a visitor to New Zealand who doesn’t believe that this country of ours really is home to Middle Earth”

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located along the same northern latitudes as Siberia and Alaska, the warm Atlantic Gulf Stream keeps winter temperatures several degrees warmer. Access to land and construction sets is made easy, thanks to a national law called Everyman’s Right, which allows everyone free access to land and waterways without having to go through the process of applying for permits. “Naturally, for filming in national parks and in private property, you need permission, but the process is generally quick and the bureaucracy is low,” Johanna Karppinen, project manager at the Finnish Lapland Film Commission, says. “Keeping a healthy amount of common sense in mind, Everyman’s Right is a uniquely simple concept that makes filming in Finland and Finnish Lapland uncomplicated.” Despite the apparent wilderness, roads are kept open throughout the year and there is complete mobile coverage. Local companies provide a wide range of services for film production, including specialists in ‘snow construction’, who can build almost anything the filmmaker needs out of snow. Karppinen says that crews do need to be aware of the dangers of the cold. She warns that snow can be a surprising element and preparations should not be taken lightly. But in the end, as she puts it, “there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing”.

FEATURE - fairy tales

and proactive in promoting his country’s film industry and its creative force on the international stage. “I’m sure in his mind there was no other option for him but to make the films here at home,” Jared Connon, supervising location manager for The Hobbit, says. “New Zealand truly does offer the entire landscape of Middle Earth and, of course, the studio execs didn’t really need much convincing once the location images and artwork started to pass across their desks. This naturally lead the way for The Hobbit, as the story takes place in many of the same locales as shown in Lord Of The Rings. I don’t think you could find a visitor to New Zealand who doesn’t believe that this country of ours really is home to Middle Earth.” When it comes to magical settings, Finnish Lapland is an obvious choice. With its vast skies and endless forests combined with reliable snow and ice conditions, it has made a perfect backdrop for numerous fantasy films. The Mystery Of The Snow Queen 3D, a new twist on the Hans Christian Andersen story, chose Finnish Lapland for its guaranteed wintry backdrop, as well as the availability of specialist equipment and trained animals. “There were frozen lakes in the middle of nowhere and sometimes it was snowing sideways,” Keith Collea, filmmaker and 3D expert with 3D Film Arts, says. “We needed reindeer and sleds pulled by wolves — and they had all of that.” The ‘wolves’ are a specially trained crossbreed of dog that is generally only found in Finland. “It is untouched,” Collea adds. “It looks like it’s never changed. Even the clothes they wear look like clothes from hundreds of years ago.” It’s the snowy forests and giant lakes that particularly attract foreign productions to Finland. Statistically, the lakes are likely to freeze over earlier than other parts of Europe and are freed of ice later. While

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LIFE ON LOCATION - THE GREAT GATSBY

LIFE ON LOCATION

SOME 39 YEARS AFTER ROBERT REDFORD AND MIA FARROW GRACED THE BIG SCREEN WITH AN ELEGANT PORTRAYAL OF F SCOTT FITZGERALD’S NOVEL THE GREAT GATSBY, LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND CAREY MULLIGAN ARE REVIVING THE ROLES. BUT THIS TIME, DURING SHOOTING, THE PRODUCTION TEAM HAD AT LEAST ONE EYE ON THE ENVIRONMENT. DEBBIE LINCOLN REPORTS

THE GREEN GATSBY F SCOTT Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a portrait of American society during the Roaring Twenties. It tells the story of a man who goes from rags to riches, but finds that his wealth cannot buy him all the privileges enjoyed by those born into the upper class. The central character is wealthy New Yorker Jay Gatsby who is best known for the lavish parties he throws each weekend at his Gothic mansion in West Egg, Long Island. He is suspected of being involved in bootlegging and other underworld activities, and during the summer of 1922 he rekindles a romance with Daisy, a girl from his past, now married to a rich, unsavoury neighbour, with tragic consequences. The remake of The Great Gatsby — opener for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival — has Leonardo DiCaprio playing the lead role, the areas around Sydney doubling for the areas around New York, and Baz Luhrmann directing. It is still a period piece, its aim to be true to the novel that was first published in 1925 — but the movie has taken a very different approach from its Seventies predecessor in one noticeable way: it’s a production that has had little or no impact on the environment. Warner Bros. has for some time built sustainability into its overall filmmaking policy. And specifically in the case of Gatsby, much of which was shot in New South Wales, Australia, employed sustainability consulting company GreenShoot Pacific (GSP) to help out. GreenShoot Pacific met with Warner Bros.’ sustainable production manager, Jon Romano, in LA in 2010. “The Great Gatsby was the first major US project to actively green its shoot in Australia. As such, many of

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the initiatives introduced by Warner Bros. and GSP were new to Australian crews,” GreenShoot Pacific’s business development manager Jess Conoplia, says. “Green education in the form of signage — with clear directives on how to dispose of waste — and other initiatives were employed. These included green ideas on office spaces, food waste and re-use of water bottles,” she adds. But it doesn’t come easy. “Until it becomes second-nature for cast and crew to implement sustainability initiatives, it’s critical for an

jess conoplia “IT’S A MISCONCEPTION THAT GOING GREEN HAS TO BE A BURDEN TO THE BUDGET” enivronmental co-ordinator, or a third party, to be engaged to ensure set-up and follow-through is as painless as possible. For example, we worked with construction to look at the best options for waste timber, salvage and waste separation, and to find the best contractors to make this as inexpensive as efficient as possible. We helped craft services to find sustainable and fair-trade suppliers, salvage collectors and recyclable or recycled or bio-compostable service-ware.” With the production itself, there are key departments that have a big carbon footprint, Romano says. “Transportation is one department we focus on — trying to use bio fuels, for example. We also try and use solar-generated power. We’re careful about the type of cars we rent — and catering is another department that

can easily adapt to some of these practices, for example with the type of food they buy and products they use. And across the board, we look at recycling, re-using, set deconstruction, and donating materials after they are no longer needed.” Romano says that an immediate goal is to try to ensure that sustainability policies are “as financially-neutral as possible”. Conoplia says: “It’s a misconception that going green has to be a burden to the budget. In fact by making a few simple, sustainable changes to ‘the old ways’ productions can save tens of thousands of dollars.” The shoot had other positive effects on the area of New South Wales where Lurhmann chose to shoot. “As with any production filming on location, the benefits to the surrounding local communities are substantial, with the crew making use of local services in many instances — food, accommodation, props, equipment and so on,” Cheryl Conway, senior production attraction and incentives executive at Sydney-based film commission Screen New South Wales, says. “These are in addition to the benefits of direct hires made in New South Wales and the huge number of small businesses and suppliers that were engaged on a production of this size.” The production needed to replicate the extremes of New York and Long Island

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LIFE ON LOCATION - THE GREAT GATSBY

in the 1920s — everywhere from the downtrodden Valley of the Ashes, on the outskirts of New York, to the elaborate mansions of the era, Conway says. “While we didn’t need to find a great number of locations, they all had to be carefully chosen as Baz is so particular,” she adds. “He had a unique vision. All the locations needed to be thought about carefully, how they could be enhanced and how the concept of the design would fit in. Sydney isn’t Long Island and The Hamptons, but working with Baz and Catherine Martine and their art department was fantastic. They involved us in everything; you are part of the process and part of the process is not finding necessarily the ideal location but finding places that can have things done to them to make them special.” The film opens the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and in the days leading up to the event, Luhrmann explained the significance of the choice of venue for the screening. “It is a great honour for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes Film Festival. We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside Saint-Raphaël.” Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the film is scripted by Luhrmann and his co-screenwriter Craig Pearce, and based on F Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND CAREY MULLIGAN IN THE GREAT GATSBY

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F E AT U R E

FEATURE - DESERTS

JUST

DESERTS FROM DUNE TO PRISCILLA, FROM JOSEY WALES TO LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, YOU CAN’T BEAT A GOOD DESERT FOR SHEER VERSATILITY. ANDY FRY LOOKS AT THE RICH OPPORTUNITIES TO BE FOUND IN THE WORLD’S MOST DESOLATE LANDSCAPES

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FEATURE - DESERTS

Most Abu Dhabi desert locations are within an hour’s drive of four- or five-star accommodation in the city

THERE has always been a demand for desert locations in movies. Aside from all the Westerns, Second World War movies and Biblical epics that have sent stars out into sandy wastelands, deserts are a useful double for alien landscapes in sci-fi films. They are also a great place for troubled characters to go in search of inner truths. This interest in deserts has accelerated in the last 20 years due to changes in the politics of global conflict. Instead of stories based in Vietnam or behind the Iron Curtain, the focus is on sand-swept locations like the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. Fortunately for filmmakers, there are plenty of places they can go without putting their cast and crew in mortal danger. Within a few hours of Hollywood, for example, are the deserts of California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico. Further south, options include Chile, Colombia or southern Africa. Then there are great Middle Eastern and Mediterranean locations such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco and southern Spain. California Film Commission executive director Amy Lemisch takes the view that West Coast filmmakers do not need to go far to get good deserts: “The range of locations in California is enormous. We have provided big sand dunes for Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End [2007], weird rock formations for Planet Of The Apes [2001], a dry lake-bed for There Will Be Blood [2007] and Afghanistan-style terrain for Iron Man [2008]. And although it wasn’t exactly desert, Argo [2012] recreated Iran on location in California.” For Lemisch, it’s not just the variety and proximity of deserts that is the attraction. “People love shooting in California because of the infrastructure, expertise and favourable weather. The crews, technicians and

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FEATURE - DESERTS

/// stunt artists are all great, which means you’re not fly-

ing anyone in. Battle scenes can be done efficiently and safely.” It goes without saying that California has great studios, but in the film-centric city of Santa Clarita to the north of Los Angeles there are also standing sets that can double for desert locations. “Blue Cloud Movie Ranch is famous for its sets,” Lemisch says. “It’s well known for its Western towns, but it also has sets that can double as Afghan or Iraqi towns, or army camps.”

The Wind Journeys (2009), directed by Ciro Guerra, in Colombia. (Photo, courtesy Ciudad Lunar)

Charlie Geocaris “From westerns to road movies to alien planets to war zones, Nevada’s deserts, playas and landscapes act as backdrops for all types of productions” If there’s one chink in California’s armour, it is cost. “The tax incentives here are pretty limited,” Lemisch admits. “We’re working on that, but right now it’s the main reason people leave.” Disney considered filming its $250m blockbuster The Lone Ranger (2013) in California, for example, but decided in the end to go to New Mexico, where a favourable tax regime has led to a boom in production since it launched in 2002. Other blockbusters to do

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desert shoots in New Mexico include The Avengers (2012), Terminator Salvation (2009), The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009) and two Transformers movies (2007/2009), one requiring a double for Middle Eastern sand dunes. New Mexico’s 25% tax credit has undoubtedly provided a strong impetus to the local industry, reports New Mexico Film Office locations co-ordinator Don Gray, with state-of-the-art sound stages and great crews coming along in its wake. “But it’s not enough just to have a tax credit. You need other elements to play the game,” he adds. In New Mexico’s case, those elements include “diverse locations, great weather, the right infrastructure and a history of film production that dates back to 1898”, Gray says. “It also helps that we are only a twohour flight from LA. The only thing we don’t have here are the big Saguaro cactuses that you see in Westerns.” Echoing California, New Mexico has standing sets for Westerns and an Afghan-style village just outside Albuquerque. There is also a Middle Eastern-style military training camp, which was built in New Mexico precisely because the terrain is similar in places. There have been reports that New Mexico may also get a piece of Star Wars Episode VII, due to be filmed in 2014. Gray downplays that rumour, saying: “It’s way too early to know that. But we certainly have locations that could double up as alien worlds.” Competition for California and New Mexico comes from Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Utah. Arizona acted as a double for Iraq in the David O Russell feature Three Kings (1999) and continues to be a big draw for Western filmmakers. For his new movie, Hot Bath An’ A Stiff Drink (2013), producer Jeffery Patterson shot at Old Tucson Studios and Mescal, a fake Western town that lies 50 km outside Tucson. “We scouted all over New Mexico and Arizona and there’s only one place I considered filming, Old Tucson and Mescal,” Patterson says. “The rich history and amazing locations that Old Tucson and Mescal offer are beyond compare.” Charlie Geocaris, director of the Nevada Film Commission, is equally upbeat about his state’s offer: “From Westerns to road movies to surfaces

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act as built-in sets and backdrops for all types of productions. Unique Nevada deserts include the Great Basin, Mojave, Forty Mile, Black Rock [famous for world-land speed records and the Burning Man festival] and Amargosa.” Down the years, Nevada has hosted numerous productions, including westerns The Covered Wagon (1923), The Shootist (1976) with John Wayne, The Electric Horseman (1979) and The Misfits (1961) with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Sci-fi’s include Mars Attacks! (1996), Independence Day (1996), Transformers (2007) and Star Trek. More recently The Hangover (2009) and the TV crime drama CSI shot scenes in Nevada deserts. As to why they come, Geocaris says: “Nevada offers a productionfriendly atmosphere with little red tape, intergovernmental co-operation, professional crews, state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, a favourable tax climate and 300-plus days of sunshine. A great advantage is the proximity of desert locations to Las Vegas. Crews can shoot on location yet be minutes away from world-class accommodation, entertainment and restaurants.” Competition for desert shoots is not just an intra-America affair, of course. Just a short distance south, there are some superb locations in Mexico. “The Sonora desert in the north of the country is very beautiful,” Juan Pablo Santa, chief of locations at the Mexican Film Commission

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(COMEFILM), says. “Altogether we have four or five different types of desert, ranging from white dunes to unique places like the Zone Of Silence, an area which is famous for the fact that TV and radio signals don’t penetrate there.” Mexico’s desert locations are also easy to get to from LA. But what can they offer that is not available in nearby Arizona, New Mexico and Texas? “The big thing is cost,” Santa says. “We don’t have very strong incentives, but Mexican crews are much cheaper than US crews and have a lot of experience with this kind of filming. Mexico was shooting Westerns as long ago as the Fifties and Sixties.” While Mexico is a dynamic production market, the north of the country — where the deserts are located — has not had a high-profile US film since Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts visited Real de Catorce for The Mexican in 2000. The country came close to getting some scenes for Warner Bros.’ The Hangover 3, but lost out to Arizona. One reason for this is the US alternatives, but there is also a perception that the north of Mexico is unsafe because of the drug cartels. Santa acknowledges this might be having an impact, but stresses:

FEATURE - DESERTS

/// of alien planets and war zones, Nevada’s deserts, playas and landscapes

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FEATURE - DESERTS

/// “Most of the country is safe for filmmakers. A lot of commercials and doc-

umentary producers come here without problems.” Heading south from the US and Mexico, Colombia is not that well known for its desert locations. But all that could change now that the country has introduced a new 40% filming incentive, intended to attract international producers. Launched in February 2013, the incentive is available for films that spend $500,000 locally and is capped at $600,000 per project. There is also provision for a 20% rebate on local accommodation, transport and food expenditure. Better established as a desert location is Chile. Although it is 5,000 miles south of the US, it has a lot in its favour, according to Chile Film Commission general manager Joyce Zylberberg. “The first thing is that the Atacama desert [the centre for desert filming] is so versatile. We’ve had productions coming from Brazil to use Chile as a double for Egypt. It’s also a great double for the moon.” Also in Chile’s favour is that it has great bilingual crews, an attractive tax incentive and a well organised customs system. “You get a very good service here,” Zylberberg says. “The people are very supportive and the economy is very stable.” Also not to be overlooked is the fact that Chile has the reverse seasons to the northern hemisphere. “So when filmmakers in the north are restricted by the weather, they have Chile as an option,” Zylberberg says. Most of the work going into Chile right now is commercials. But it has hosted movies such as the 2008 James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, which climaxed in the Atacama. More typically, the films coming into Chile are in the $10m range. A recent example is Magic Magic (2013), which stars Juno Temple as a young woman who mentally unravels while vacationing in Chile. “We have the capacity to make one or two big movies at a time,” Zylberberg says. “And producers don’t need to be concerned about the equipment because we have everything they need here.” Back up in Colombia, Lina Maria Sanchez of the country’s film commission says there

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HIGHWAY 50, Nevada, “The loneliest road in America”

are three main desert locations. “Just a few hours drive from Bogota we have the Candelaria desert, which has a dry and yellow look. In Villa de Leyva, which is the colonial village close to the desert, you can find the hotel infrastructure needed to lodge a big crew. Many TV series, spot ads and films have been shot in the area.” Less easy to get to are the La Guajira and Tatacoa deserts. “They don’t have the infrastructure for a big shoot, but some Colombian films have been shot in these locations,” Sanchez says. “In 2009, The Wind Journeys was shot in La Guajira, which is a vast area

JOYCE ZYLBERBERG “WE’VE HAD PRODUCTIONS COMING FROM BRAZIL TO USE CHILE AS A DOUBLE FOR EGYPT. IT’S ALSO A GREAT DOUBLE FOR THE MOON” next to the sea, in the north of the country. Recently, the documentary The Eternal Night Of Twelve Moons (2013) was shot in the area with the Wayuu indigenous tribe. This year, the Colombian film Two Women And A Cow will shoot in the Tatacoa.” According to Sanchez, the new incentive is not the only reason to sample Colombia’s deserts: “Our crews are known for their

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/// enormous commitment, hard work and resourcefulness. They are always

willing to adjust to production needs.” It is also relatively easy to get permits, Sanchez adds, although in some situations, filmmakers need to obtain special permissions. For example, the Wayuu community has to grant permission to work in La Guajira. And safety is no longer an issue in Colombia, Sanchez adds: “We have overcome very difficult times, but today it’s part of the past. We will do our best to make every filmmaker’s experience the best ever.” Outside the Americas, most ‘movie deserts’ are to be found in North Africa and the Middle East. Clearly, this is a convenient option for filmmakers in Europe or western Asia. But these deserts are also a big draw for those seeking authenticity in location and casting. The southern Morocco city of Ouarzazate has been hosting desert movies since Lawrence Of Arabia in 1962. Atlas Film Studios, launched in 1983, has hosted films including The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000) and Kingdom Of Heaven (2005). CLA Studios, a sister facility opened in 2004, recently hosted Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (2011). Producers who have used Ouarzazate cite four main reasons for coming back. Firstly, Morocco is cheap. Secondly, the authorities work hard to make producers feel at home. Thirdly, it is a safe location. And finally, Morocco can double for Egypt, Tibet, Iraq, the Yemen, Israel and even New Mexico (The Hills Have Eyes, 2006). What’s more, if the right location isn’t available at Ouarzazate, there is the option of filming further north in the Rabat-Sale region. When Ridley Scott wanted a double for Somalia in Black Hawk Down (2001), Rabat-Sale delivered the goods. In the movie production notes, the film’s production designer Arthur Max said: “Mogadishu [Somalia’s capital] is a no-go zone. So knowing that it would be impossible to film there, we decided to scout locations in the Mediterranean, including Israel, Jordan and Egypt, as well as southern Spain and all of North Africa. We settled on Rabat-Sale, as it was the closest to the research materials we had seen.” Morocco faces competition from other countries in the region, however. In the UAE, for example, both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have established themselves as great places to shoot commercials and are now keen to attract more movies, both from the West and from Bollywood and Asia-Pacific. Dubai bent over backwards to help Tom Cruise shoot Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011. In that movie, Cruise is involved in a high-altitude stunt that takes place on the iconic Burj Khalifa tower. The fact that he was able to do it was the result of a major multi-agency effort in support of the film and the quality of the UAE production base. Local firm Filmworks serviced Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Syriana (2005) and is active across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Speaking to Arabian Business magazine, Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird said: “We always imagined [Dubai] would be a good place to

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The big story for Namibia in the last year has been the production of Mad Max: Fury Road

FEATURE - DESERTS

set a big sequence in the film, but getting a cast to shoot on the building and do it how we did it was made possible by the government.” Jamal Al Sharif, chairman of the Dubai Film and TV Commision (DFTC), says that since Mission Impossible shot there the number of big-budget movies coming to Dubai has increased, partly because of the confidence shown in local crews. “And that helps reduce the cost of production. Bourne Legacy shot here for five days and they used mainly local crews — they only brought heads of department with them, the rest were recruited locally.” Shane Martin, CEO of Dubai-based producer Boomtown Productions, says there is no reason why more movies should not come to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. “There’s a lot of experience here and a great infrastructure, because of the big commercial shoots. Some countries involve a lot of logistical effort to set up. But here you can get from great accommodation to spectacular deserts around Area 53 [Dubai] or Liwa [Abu Dhabi] relatively quickly.” The DFTC was established in 2012 and since then has been working to promote Dubai as a filmfriendly destination. One of its USPs is its promise to enable a shoot to start just 48 hours after application. Pretty much all of its services come free of charge and, while there are no taxes levied in Dubai, it offers incentives which are customised on a case-by-case basis but

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FEATURE - DESERTS

/// can amount to a 30% reduction in the total cost of a shoot. DFTC chair-

man Sharif says that while its distinctive landscapes and fine weather are big attractions, it’s the fast-track service, value-for-money, and developed infrastructure that appeal as much as its Lawrence-Of-Arabia-type backdrops — and particularly to commercials producers. “Many TV commercials only require a two or three-day shoot, they’re just in and out, so the fasttrack service that we provide, granting them permissions in just 48 hours, is very important to them,” he says. “And not to forget that 80-90% of the [advertising] agencies are in Dubai. So, for example, if a shampoo brand out of Europe wants to shoot in Dubai on a beach, or a sandy area, in the sunshine, there’s a 99% chance that the agency working on the campaign is in Dubai, so it makes it easy.” He adds: “Plus there are all the things that people traditionally expect to find here — the landscape, the blue skies — and finding talent and new faces, that’s not a problem in Dubai. You can find a middle-eastern look, all the way to Caucasian or African.” Some 16 TV series and 19 theatrical movies shot in Dubai in 2012, including 12 Indian films totalling 300 days of shooting, one of which used Dubai locations to double for Europe — to save the cost of flying onwards for the specific Europe-based scenes. Chinese film Switch (2012), directed by Jay Sun and starring Andy Lau and Lin Chiling, shot for 24 days in Dubai. “They used some of our beaches to double for an Asian destination,” Sharif says. “That’s amazing — a Chinese production comes to Dubai and they didn’t want to go back and use the sandy beaches of Thailand, they did it in Dubai, using the beaches, palm trees and clear blue water.” In UAE’s favour is the specific expertise that comes with complex desert shoots, both in terms of production crews and the service companies that know the kind of damage sand and heat can do to cranes and cameras. “If you’re going deep into the desert, it’s almost like planning a military operation,” Martin says. “You need great four-wheel drivers, GPS, water, sunscreen and good footwear for a start. And if you’re going out overnight, you need camping equipment, food and the right clothing for cold temperatures.” A lot of shoots involve overnight stays, Martin adds, “because of the time it takes to set up cranes and because the light is magic in the mornings”. A typical shoot will involve shooting in the morning and early

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Within a few hours of Hollywood: the deserts of New Mexico

evening, with a long break during the heat of the day. “It also involves good organisation, because you don’t want people walking on the virgin desert you’ve just driven a day to find,” Martin says. While Dubai was the first to target the production sector, Abu Dhabi has upped the ante in recent times. Mike Flannigan, the newly-appointed Abu Dhabi film commissioner, says: “I’m a producer by background, so I know the first thing producers look for are financial incentives to keep costs under control. The good news is that Abu Dhabi has introduced a 30% rebate on qualifying spend, including overseas crew. That’s unlike any incentive in the world.” The incentive

Shane Martin “If you’re going deep into the desert, it’s almost like planning a military operation” would not be much use if Abu Dhabi did not have the locations and crews — but, echoing Martin, Flannigan says the emirate ticks these boxes too. “We have sand desert, stony desert, rock desert, plateau desert and mountain desert. Our landscapes range from rolling dunes reminiscent of movies such as Lawrence Of Arabia to arid brush and rockscapes typical of those found in the Middle East and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we have wadis and valleys similar to Jordan, rocky rises that can double for Afghanistan, and expanses comparable with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Sudan.” To cap it all, most desert locations

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/// are within an hour’s drive of four- or five-star accommodation in Abu Dha-

bi, Al Ain or Liwa, offering an abundance of restaurants, malls and leisure activities to keep cast and crew happy. Also growing in importance is nearby Qatar. In recent times, the country has launched a body called The Doha Film Institute (DFI), which is attempting to build a sustainable film infrastructure and promote Qatar as a location. Recently, it acted as a co-production partner on Black Gold (also known as Day Of The Falcon, 2011), a film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Name Of The Rose, 1986; Seven Years In Tibet, 1997), which used Tunisia and Qatar as key locations. In the case of Qatar, filming occurred in the desert at Mesaieed, about 40km outside the capital Doha. In February, the DFI teamed up with Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth, 2006; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 2011; Lincoln, 2012) to launch a $100m revolving fund to finance feature films. While that does not necessarily mean films will need to be shot in Qatar, it would be a surprise if work did not come into the country. The other country that has become a major player in the desert business is Jordan, which has hosted projects including Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009), The Hurt Locker (2008) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). The fact that Kathryn Bigelow returned to Jordan with

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On the set of The Shootist with John Wayne, shot in Nevada in 1976

FEATURE - DESERTS

Zero Dark Thirty after her Oscar-winning success with The Hurt Locker is a good endorsement of the country. Bigelow spent 70 days in Jordan filming Zero Dark Thirty, during which time a copy of Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout was built. The fact that she did so is down to a number of factors, ranging from low-cost crews and no-hassle permits to the variety of excellent locations. But also worth noting is Jordan’s can-do attitude. Like Morocco, the authorities do everything they can to make shoots happen, from shutting off streets to providing the use of military personnel and locations. Parts of the Mediterranean can also offer desert-style options. Israel is home to the stunning Judean and Negev deserts, while southern Spain is famous for the Tabernas desert near Almeira in Andalucia. While the volume of work in Tabernas has dropped off since its spaghetti-western heyday, it was used for scenes in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989) and, recently, an episode of the British sci-fi drama Doctor Who. Southern Spain was also used to support Morocco in Paul Greengrass’ thriller Green Zone (2010), when military airport Los Alcazares doubled for Baghdad Airport. Southern Africa certainly cannot be overlooked. South Africa, with its excellent crews, long shooting days and stunning locations, has long been on the production industry’s radar. Also coming up are the dramatic deserts of Namibia. HBO filmed in Namibia as long ago as 2003 (Generation Kill), but the big story in the last year has been the production of Mad Max: Fury Road (2014). A coup for the country, it generated work for 900 local people and brought an incremental $11m spend into Namibia. Previous Mad Max films were shot in the Broken Hill area of New South Wales in Australia. Fury Road was also going to be shot in Broken Hill until a huge rainstorm prevented it. Australia is home to some superb deserts, but is too far away to make it on to the consideration list for most foreign producers. Instead, Aussie deserts have been used for home-grown hits such as The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994) and Gallipoli (1981). For the latter, director Peter Weir shot scenes at the sand dunes of Coffin Bay in South Australia.

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life on location - top of the lake

Tui, a 12-year-old girl attempts suicide at the start of the TV drama series Top Of The Lake

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life on location

Trouble in Paradise SEE-SAW Films’ Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, the Oscar-winning production partnership behind The King’s Speech (2010), were at the early stages of development on a film adaptation of Alice Munro’s short story Runaway, with Jane Campion, when the New Zealand-born filmmaker switched her attentions to another story that was developing in her head. That story is Top Of The Lake, set in a place called Paradise in New Zealand, which according to Canning “actually is paradise”. Top Of The Lake centres around a 12-year-old girl Tui, played by Jacqueline Joe, who at the start of the story is trying to drown herself in a lake. She’s rescued and detective/social worker Robin Griffin, played by Elisabeth Moss, is brought into the case after it is discovered that the girl is pregnant. Soon after the incident Tui is sent back home to her father Matt Mitcham, played by Peter Mullan. Then the girl goes missing. “I own a hut and I have done for about 14 years,” Campion says. “I remember after making Portrait Of A Lady I felt like I really wanted to find a soul place in my own country, New Zealand — where I don’t live any more — in the wilderness area down south. And so I set about doing that, and bought a hut in quite a remote spot. Every year I spend two or three holidays there. So I have come to know it and love it a lot, and I got inspired to write this there. First I thought it was going to be a novel, but I abandoned that idea. And then, I had a lot of different ideas for what I might do there and finally I really liked the idea of writing a crime mystery story, because I really love crime mystery. So the idea was to combine everything and make a texture that was really special, very much of my own interest, and unique to the area. So it became a story involving the disappeared girl — a 12-year-old pregnant girl .” It’s clear from the way Campion describes the birth of the idea for the series that it would not have come about had she not spent so many quiet months in this extraordinary location. “I just thought, what could be more

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life on location - top of the lake

At the top of the talent pile that created the television series Top Of The Lake are three Oscar-winners: writerdirector Jane Campion and producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman. But there was a third element in play before this team started working together, and that was the location. Julian Newby travelled to the area where it is set, and later met the team behind the series

disturbing? I don’t know where images come from but a half-Thai girl walking into a freezing lake with her school uniform on, it’s just such a great way to set up the inquiry for this whole story. She’s the daughter of Matt Mitcham [Peter Mullan], a small-time gangster, and his third wife who was a Thai bar girl.” Mullan is the focus for the seedier side of the story. The fictional town close to this wilderness is Laketop, a corrupt place full of secrets, its grimy underbelly contrasting with the beauty of the surrounding area — this contrast between the beauty and the underlying sense of mystery inviting comparisons with the cult TV series Twin Peaks. “I like the opportunity of setting the story in a remote place. I’m a fan of the current wave of Scandinavian writing, I guess because New Zealand is a small country too, and a cold place all alone. I feel an affinity with Scandinavia. And, also, I think the feminism in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo [2011], was encouraging.” There’s a feminist thread running through Top Of The Lake, not only relating to the victim-status of the pregnant 12-year-old, but also played out more dramatically by a group of post-menopausal “unfuckable” (in Campion’s words) women who have set up

JANE CAMPION

I LIKE THE OPPORTUNITY OF SETTING THE STORY IN A REMOTE PLACE

’’

camp at nearby Paradise to gain enlightenment from guru GJ — based on real-life figure UG Krishnamurti who, Campion says, some people “might call enlightened” but who in her eyes was “challenging and naughty… and really fierce”. True to her unpredictable form Campion translated UG the man into GJ the woman and cast Holly Hunter to play her. Hunter initially said of the role: “I don’t think I can do it.” But she did.

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GAB FULL ADS 16/04/12 14:22 Page11

The Boutique Editions team, which produces this publication, traveled to the Otago region, the part of New Zealand that Campion chose as the setting for Top Of The Lake, and found that nothing that anyone had said about it was an exaggeration. This, the area where much of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit were filmed is surprisingly easy to access from the lively lakeside town of Queenstown on lake Wakatipu — but as you travel deeper into the rainforest and further into the mountainous areas, it feels like you’re the only person in the world. Uninterrupted 360º views of meadow, hills, forests, mountains and water — both the lake and shallow rivers that wind deep into the forest — were the natural choice for JRR Tolkien’s fantasies as well as many other productions including X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and Campion’s own debut television mystery series. “It’s a filmmaking haven and everyone is very au-fait with it down there,” Campion says of the Otago region. “The Hobbit’s moving out, we’re moving in!” Campion’s hut, or batch as is the local term for the minimalist, close-to-nature dwellings that are a characteristic of this part of the world, is some 35 miles up the lake from Queenstown. “There is something divine about it, it’s so beautiful. Very special.” But she adds: “What our story is pointing to is that paradise isn’t as easy to find as it sounds.” While Jane Campion was in her hut layering her extraordinary imagination on top of the stunning landscapes surrounding her, an international, trans-Atlantic dream team was coming together to provide the finance for the series — a team that will likely produce further quality television drama series in the coming years. “It was before the days when Iain and Emile had won an Oscar. We were sent the script [for Top Of The Lake], along with this amazing kind of tone document which was full of beautiful pictures, and kind of gave you a feel of how extraordinary this project was going to be,” Sarah Doole, head of Independent drama at BBC Worldwide (BBCWW), says. “At BBCWW part of my job is to look out for new projects… unique, saleable, astonishing pieces of drama that we can sell. It was a bit of a departure for us to look at a drama that wasn’t set in Britain, but obviously with the background at See-Saw, the talent of Jane Campion, and the fact that this was an investigative piece — we’re very good at selling investigative dramas — this was different, it wasn’t based on a book but it was an authored piece, it’s got a vision and we were very excited. So we contacted See-Saw to see if we could work with them. At that time [broadcaster] BBC2 had been on board and had paid for the first script.” Doole said that she knew instantly that Top Of The Lake would require a substantial budget and “big casting”. It was the role of

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Jane Campion on location

Jemma Adkins, senior vice-president, television sales and co-productions at BBCWW to sell the idea to the US. “It was the start of 2011 when Emile and myself were out in LA pitching the project to all the broadcasters — and also in NY — seeing who we could get on board from the US side,” Adkins says. “We had the obvious advantage of the calibre of the producers and Jane Campion being on board, so we had a lot of interest in the project. But also I think Emile’s, Iain’s and Jane’s willingness to work with a US partner and sort of really wanting the project to feel like it had a US voice inputting into it — rather than just looking for some co-production funding — that was great and that really opened up the doors as to who we could work with. And Sundance became a very natural fit for this.” By chance the Sundance Channel had very recently made the decision to enter into the business of funding and producing original drama series, and so Top Of The Lake came along at an opportune moment. “We had done Carlos [a French-German mini-series] with Canal+ and that encouraged us to look for other opportunities to work with the kind of talent that works for Sundance, as well as to get involved in projects that were going to get critical attention and build momentum of their own,” Sundance channel executive producer, Christian Vesper, says. “We’ve worked for years with the BBC as a buyer of their projects and this was not a difficult sell in terms of the calibre of the talent — the fact that Jane and See-Saw were on board was quite powerful for us as a brand fit — and most of the projects that we’re seeking to do are projects that are driven by authors and driven by talent. There’s a nice quality in being the Sundance Channel and having someone like Jane from the film world, and producers from the film world, creating that crossover effect.” Vesper says that Sundance would not normally go for a procedural drama but

Campion’s name made them look again. “What I love about it is when you read the script it is a procedural, but it goes in very strange directions — not awful strange, but just interesting and magical, and you can see that in everything that Jane Campion does. We seek to define ourselves through characters with depth and a good story.” Top Of The Lake is the first television outing both for Campion and for See-Saw, and Canning says that the series opened his eyes to the power of the medium. “There’s just a lot more space, a lot more time to explore the characters — I just think you can go in so many different ways and directions. And as long as its really engaging and the dramas working an the direction is working you can keep people on a journey for a lot longer,” he says. And Campion has caught the TV bug too. “Audiences get very conservative about what they are willing to go out and see in the cinema, but there seems to me to be a big audience of people that wants adventurous content. But they have got families and they can’t always go out, and they get used to watching it on their own screens — and you know I’m one of them,” she says. “I also love the idea that you can tell a longer story [on television] and you can get to know the characters, let the whole thing grow and develop — and you have room for whimsy and things if you wanted it. “I’m looking for a place where I have got some freedom and it seems at the moment it’s here where I have freedom, and that has been proven through the process of making it. Not that I have had a hard time with film, I haven’t — but anyway with this I was allowed to do what I wanted to do, and be as bold as I wanted.” In July last year following the Top Of The Lake collaboration, it was announced that BBC Worldwide had signed a first-look deal with See-Saw Films’ newly-launched television arm which gave the distributor first look at all of See-Saw’s television productions. All this, because one single person was inspired by one single location.

life on location - top of the lake

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•

the top of the lake team TOP OF THE LAKE is a See-Saw Films production in association with Screen Australia, Screen NSW and Fulcrum Media Finance for the BBC, UKTV, Sundance Channel and BBC Worldwide. The series is produced by Academy Award-winners Emile Sherman and Iain Canning (The King’s Speech, Shame) of See-Saw Films, and Phillippa Campbell (Black Sheep) of Escapade Pictures. The cast includes Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, On The Road); Holly Hunter, (The Piano, Raising Arizona); Peter Mullan (War Horse, Trainspotting) and David Wenham (The Lord Of The Rings, Australia). Top Of The Lake is distributed by BBC Worldwide.

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showcase

LOCATION IN

PIC TURES

showcase - location in pictures

Location Magazine has teamed up with film commissions, location scouts, and photographers, to bring you images of stunning locations around the world. some are well-trodden by film crews, others still to be made famous on the big or small screen...

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Pigeon Point, Trinidad and Tobago Also known as Pigeon Point Heritage Park (PPHP) this is considered to be one of Tobagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most beautiful beaches. The resort includes a long stretch of white sand with aquamarine waters, and the peninsula beach jutting into the Caribbean on the leeward side of Tobago. Characteristics include calm water, overhanging palms, turquoise water, thatched roofs, easy access, and sunsets over the sea. Recent shoots here include commercials for the cocktail drink Malibu, and TV mini-series Dream Hotels (2011). (Photo, courtesy skene@caribbeancrews.com)

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The Bridge of the Americas, Panama

(Photo, courtesy Panama Film Commission)

showcase - location in pictures

This road bridge — with a total length of 1,654 metres — spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and connects the land masses of north and south America. Until the opening of the Centennial Bridge in 2004 it used to be the only way to cross from one continent to the other. The cantilever designed structure is a Panamanian icon and was used in an establishing shot for the Miss Universe 2002 contest held in Panama.

Rainbow Vista,

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Valley of Fire offers stunning 360º red rock landscapes, and features nearly 10 miles of roadway that twists and turns through an ever-changing array of colour. The area also makes a good choice for filming because of the relative ease with which permits can be obtained, and experienced local crews. Movies that shot here include One Million Years BC (1966), The Professionals (1966), Transformers (2007), Star Trek: Generations (1994), and Looney Toons (2003). The Lana Del Rey Ride video, and spots for UPS and numerous car commercials also shot here. (Photo, courtesy Brian O’Hare, Nevada Film Office)

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troll’s tongue, Odda, western norway This unique rock formation stands horizontally out from the Hardanger mountain plateau. At an altitude of 1,100 metres, it has a 700-metre vertical drop. Snow conditions mean that shooting season goes from June to September. Troll’s Tongue, so-named because of its bizarre shape, is close to the Odda municipality in western Norway, and was the location for a sequence in the Bollywood film Ko (2011), directed by KV Anand.

showcase - location in pictures

(Photo, courtesy Odda)

Landmannalauger, Iceland A region near the Hekla volcano in the southern section of Iceland’s highlands, Landmannalauger has a number of unusual geological elements, including its multi-coloured rhyolite mountains and expansive lava fields. It’s a breathtaking landscape that you will not find anywhere else, and swimming is possible in the hot river that runs through it. Landmannalauger has been used in commercials for sporting brand Galyans, and for Samsung and Volkswagen vehicles, whose commercial included a 360º shoot. (Photo, courtesy Michael Levy)

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showcase - location in pictures

Hollywood & Vine, Los Angeles, CA This image is called Hollywood and Vine, Once Upon a Time and was shot while scouting for additional photography to be used in the Christopher Guest film, For Your Consideration (2006). The buildings in the foreground at Hollywood and Vine, are the Hollywood Plaza Hotel, the Broadway Department Store and the Taft Building. The image was shot from a roof at Selma Ave and El Centro Ave. This same view no longer exists today, and the buildings have been re-imagined. Today, the W Hotel and 1600 Vine would be in the foreground. The Plaza Hotel was popular with the movie and radio crowd. George Burns had an office on the top floor. The 1927 Broadway Department Store featured in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times in 1936. The Taft Building housed many movie business offices including those of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Charlie Chaplin. The far building in the distance, illuminated by the last ray of light, is the Hollywood First National Building at 6777 Hollywood Blvd, designed by Meyer and Holler in 1927, who also built the famous Graumann’s Chinese Theatre. The location was often seen in the 1950s Superman TV Show and still stands as it has for 86 years — but empty, waiting for its future. (Photo, courtesy Jody Hummer, LMGA)

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Mt. Larkins, Glenorchy, New Zealand

showcase - location in pictures

This image is of an ice cave on Mt. Larkins near Glenorchy, a town at the head of Lake Wakatipu in the South Island of New Zealand — part of the area made famous by Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies. It was recently used for a Korean TV commercial for outdoor brand Kolon Sport. The region is known for its pristine alpine environment. Local crews and specialised equipment are always available here. (Photo, courtesy Daz Coulton)

Yellowknife, N W Territories, Canada This photo was taken on June 21, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, at 23.00. It was taken from Pilot’s Monument in the Old Town of the city of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, which is located at 62.5º north. In the foreground is the Old Town, which is built on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, the world’s 10th-largest freshwater lake. In the distance is the skyline of uptown Yellowknife. The city has a population of 20,000 and has all modern amenities, a bustling film and media arts community, wilderness access, beautiful scenery, and easy air and road access from southern Canada. It also enjoys unlimited daylight hours in the summer months. Yellowknife’s Old Town is an almost undiscovered location gem, at the moment used mainly by Canadian television production companies. Some examples of recent productions filmed at least partly in Yellowknife and Old Town are reality shows Ice Road Truckers and Ice Pilots NWT as well as the CBC drama series, Arctic Air. (Photo, courtesy Fran Hurcomb Photography)

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Juneau, Alaska

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Juneau is a waterfront city that is surrounded by towering peaks. This wintertime shot is the corner of Front Street and Franklin Ave in downtown. The old city centre is compact with a variety of interesting art deco and 1930s federal buildings, and a selection of Victorian homes on the hillsides above. This city, Alaskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital, is surrounded by snowcapped mountains rising out of the inlets and fjords of Alaskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inside passage, and is a quaint town that expresses many moods depending on the season and the weather. Juneau has appeared in numerous productions, including: Top Chef (Season Finale - season 10); WildLike (2013), and Limbo (1999). (Photo, courtesy Dave Worrell, dave@hungryartisans.com)

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Little Lake Ranch, Inyo County, CA

(Photo, courtesy Tony Salome, LMGA)

Istanbul, Turkey

showcase - location in pictures

The topography of Inyo County is diverse and offers some of the lowest and some of the highest elevations in the US. This particular location highlights the barren, but serene, appeal of the high desert, which can serve as a backdrop for the Old West, as well as another world. The area is a little over 200 miles north of Los Angeles and has a longstanding relationship with the film industry. Hundreds of films and TV shows have been filmed here over the years including Gunga Din (1939), Bad Day At Black Rock (1955), Tremors (1990), Gladiator (2000), Gone In 60 Seconds (2000) and Iron Man (2008) as well as numerous commercials.

This picture is taken from the rooftop of an abandoned building in Istanbul, a transcontinental city straddling the Bosphorus — one of the world’s busiest waterways. Its commercial and historical centre lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives in Asia. The city’s architecture reflects Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Genoese influences. As a result, mosques, churches, castles, synagogues, and palaces can all be found in Istanbul. The city is a visual delight with tableaux everywhere you look. Among the many films shot in Istanbul are Argo (2012), Skyfall (2012), Taken 2 (2012), The International (2009) and Midnight Express (1978). (Photo, courtesy Claudia Eastman, LMGA)

botanical gardens, San Marino, CA This picture shows a pond in of the oldest gardens in the area, on the estate of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. It offers a beautiful setting that could double for many parts of the world, featuring several small, connected ponds. There is bamboo, winding pathways, palms and tropical plants — and all around there are lush green lawns. In July, this pond is filled with tall blooming lotus flowers. Logistically, it’s one of the easiest places to film on the 207-acre estate, with excellent road access; there is even a restroom and production parking nearby. A scene for Spike Jonze’s Her (2013) shot here. Joss Whedon used it as the setting for a learningindoctrination centre in Serenity (2005), and the TV show Kingpin used it as the setting for a two-storey, glass-enclosed kick-boxing ring, also set in southeast Asia. The Invention Of Lying (2009) and The Brothers Solomon (2007) both took advantage of the setting around the pond, and in 2002 the movie Anger Management (2003) built an entire Zen monastery set next to it. It’s also a popular location for commercials and stills shoots — recent clients include Tropicana, Avon, Arden B and Baby Gap (Photo, courtesy Dinah LeHoven, c. The Huntington Library)

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KilpisjĂ¤rvi, EnontekiĂś, Finland

(Photo, courtesy Finnish Lapland Film Commission , www.northframe.net.)

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showcase - location in pictures

This hill is iconic in Finland and the area is famous for its extraordinary landscape. Finland in general is pretty flat with thousands of lakes, many varied types of forest and rolling hills. But this area offers a more dramatic outlook. Situated far north in Lapland, film crews can rely on the area for snow in early autumn and even late in the spring. Another interesting fact about this area is the barren look of the flora. A number of international commercials have shot here including Finlandia Vodka, feature film crews and a number of TV travel series have also shot here.

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showcase - location in pictures

Liguria, Italy The towns and villages of Liguria, a region in north-western Italy, just west of the city of Genoa, have a long history of being defended by walls. Dating as far back as the ninth century, portions of these walls still remain today, and Genoa boasts more than any other city in Italy. The Liguria region also features striking mountain landscapes and green rolling hills, overlooking the Ligurian sea. It is yet-to-be-discovered as a film location and is less photographed than many other parts of Italy. The city of Genoa is capable of supporting any size crew. (Photo, courtesy Mark Indig, LMGA)

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Calamity Peak , near custer, south Dakota

( Photo, courtesy www.filmsd.com )

Port of Saint-Tropez, France

showcase - location in pictures

The Custer area of South Dakota’s Black Hills features pine-covered mountains, rugged rocky crags and pristine alpine lakes along with many rustic remnants of earlier gold mining days. It was also recently named one of the world’s Top 10 destinations for watching wildlife. Productions shot in the area include National Treasure: Book Of Secrets (2007) and How The West Was Won (1962) .

This image was taken in winter at sunset on the French Riviera in ‘the most famous village in the world’. The French started filming here back in the 1930s, before international productions moved in — for example Bonjour Tristesse (1958) with Jean Seberg and Two For The Road (1967) with Audrey Hepburn. More than 100 features have been shot in ‘St Trop’ including the Roger Vadim classic ...And God Created Woman (1956) with Brigitte Bardot. Saint-Tropez is still welcoming many films, as well as commercial shoots by Dior and Chanel — and in 2012 Danièle Thompson shot Des Gens Qui S’embrassent with Monica Bellucci. People film in Saint-Tropez because of the climate with more than 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. It is a film-friendly authentic town with a variety of locations, a preserved coastline, an architectural heritage, surrounding hilltop villages, luxurious villas and a good infrastructure. (Photo, courtesy Michel Brussol, South of France Film Commission, Var)

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Marsaxlokk, Malta

showcase - location in pictures

Marsaxlokk is the best-known fishing village in Malta. The bay is at the south-eastern end of the island and is memorable for the many colourful, traditional fishing boats called luzzu. International producers and film directors choose to film in Malta because of the spectacular scenery, the favourable weather, the clear and clean Mediterranean waters, the largest artificial tanks in the Mediterranean, and also the fact that the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s locations can double for several Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries both in modern and period epics. Maltaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history, wealth of culture and the 12 months of sunshine offer an excellent destination to foreign film producers. Productions shot here include The Saint (1969), Pulp (1972), Mackintosh Man (1973), Revelation (2001), Munich (2005), and locally produced feature film Simshar (2014). (Photo, courtesy Peter Vanicsek )

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showcase - location in pictures

Gyantse, Tibet Working in China on Merchant Of Shanghai in 2010 with Taylor Hackford, the photographer Dow Griffith travelled to Tibet when the crew took a Christmas holiday hiatus, and took this photo on his way to Mount Everest. This settlement dates from the 15th century and features the nine-tiered Gyantse Kumbum, the largest chörten (dome-shaped Buddhist monument) in Tibet, visible in the centre of the photo. The Tibetans made their last stand in Gyantse against the invasion of the British in 1904 — intent on convincing the Dalai Lama to accept trade concessions during the first incursion into ‘The Roof of the World’ by Westerners. The BBC documentary A Year In Tibet (2008) was filmed in Gyantse. (Photo, courtesy Dow Griffith, LMGA)

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showcase - location in pictures

Sant Maurici National Park, Barcelona

Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici is one of the 14 Spanish National Parks, the second largest in the Pyrenees and the only one in Catalonia. This park offers a striking landscape of high mountains and a wealth of flora and fauna. Water is one of the main features of this location with almost 200 lakes and numerous streams. Commercial shoots that have taken place here include Jeep, Peugeot, Zurich, Toyota, Subaru and Ford. Agnòsia (2010), a feature film directed by Eugenio Mira, also shot here. (Photo, courtesy Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici”)

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Hunting Island State Park,

Hunting Island State Park offers 5,000 acres of low country in South Carolina that includes secluded marshland and maritime forests, unspoiled but accessible jungles, a lagoon, an historic lighthouse, and five miles of undeveloped beach. The Beaufort area has hosted some 16 feature films and over 65 TV shows and commercials. Forrest Gump (1994), Rules Of Engagement (2000), G.I. Jane (1997), Daughters Of The Dust (1991), Last Dance (1996), Carriers (2009), Nickelodeon children’s TV series Gullah Gullah Island and a Yuban coffee commercial.  ( Photo, courtesy Chris Kirk/SC Film Commission )

showcase - location in pictures

Beaufort, South Carolina

Guymon, texas county, Oklahoma This picture was taken on a farm three miles northwest of Guymon, the county seat of Texas County and the largest city on the Oklahoma Panhandle. Corporate hog farms and cattle feedlots dominate its economy. The area is well known as ‘ground zero’ in Ken Burns’ 2012 documentary Dust Bowl, about the Dust Bowl migration in the 1930s. And, it’s hard to beat an Oklahoma panhandle sunset. ( Photo, courtesy Chris Kucharski, LMGA )

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showcase - location in pictures

La Playa de Belén, Norte de Santander, Colombia La playa de Belén is one of the most beautiful small colonial towns in Colombia, surrounded by a wild semi-desert landscape with big sculpted rocks poking out from the ground, shaped over millions of years by a combination of wind and rain erosion. Beyond the natural beauty, the striking, red-roofed houses, uniformly painted white, all make La Playa de Belén the perfect scenery for cowboy or horror movies. Its streets, dusty from the sand of the National Park, give the atmosphere of a village frozen in time. La playa de Belén was recently shot as part of the campaign of The Colombian Heritage Tourism Towns – Red Turística de Pueblos Patrimonio. La playa de Belén is a four-hour drive to Cucutá airport. (Photo, courtesy Heritage Towns of Colombia- Tourism network (Red Turística de Pueblos Patrimonio de Colombia)

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Loon Lake Reservoir, El Dorado County, CA This 76,200-acre lake was formed by Loon Lake Dam in 1963 to conserve spring snow melt runoff for use during summer and autumn for hydroelectric power production. This is a perfect film location and one of the best-known and most-popular 4x4 trails in the world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a rare combination of difficulty, beauty, length and pure rock-crawling pleasure. The area is perfect for filming off-road vehicles, camping scenes and prehistoric backdrops, and permits are quite easy to acquire. Chevy, Jeep and Honda ATV are just a few of the motor companies that have shot commercials here.

showcase - location in pictures

(Photo, courtesy Denise Collins, LMGA)

City of Los Angeles, Ca Los Angeles from an unexpected angle, shot with a Nikon 2dx, 200mm lens from Malibu, while scouting a house in the Malibu Hills. The district of Westwood is in the foreground, LA mid-ground and the Santa Ana Mountains in the background. The city is both flat and hilly and is divided into over 80 districts and neighbourhoods, extending 44 miles longitudinally and 29 miles latitudinally. With one in every six of its residents working in the creative industries, LA is often billed as the creative capital of the world, with its district of Hollywood globally recognised as the epicentre of the motion picture industry. (Photo, courtesy Lori Balton, LMGA)

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Tudor City, Manhattan, NYC The photo was taken on the roof of Tudor City, which is an apartment complex located on the east side of Manhattan, across First Avenue from the United Nationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; building. It is the first residential skyscraper complex in the world, bordered by East 40th Street to the south, First Avenue to the east, Second Avenue to the west and East 43rd Street to the north. Special features include wonderful views of Midtown Manhattan, a classic iron sign which provides an excellent frame, good access and cooperative building management. Numerous productions have shot here including, recently, the BBC sci-fi series Dr. Who. Others include Spider-Man (2002), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), US Marshalls (1998), and the TV series Person Of Interest. (Photo, courtesy John Hutchinson, LMGA)

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showcase - location in pictures

Crystal Reservoir,

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia This picture shows Shallow Inlet, at Wilsons Promontory National Park, which is in the Gippsland region of South East Victoria. Situated in the southernmost point of the Australian mainland, this national park is known for its beautiful rainforests, unspoiled beaches and abundant wildlife. This stunning region is remote and has a certain wildness about it, yet it’s only two-and-a-half hours from Melbourne’s central business district. One of Victoria’s many advantages as a production destination is its diversity of locations so close to the city centre. The other advantages include Docklands Studios Melbourne, in the heart of the city, talented and hard-working crews and film-friendly local councils.

This picture was taken at Crystal Reservoir, an artificial reservoir on the Gunnison River in southwestern Colorado, in an area about halfway up Pikes Peak Highway in Colorado Springs. Many productions choose to film on or up Pikes Peak Highway including many car companies for B-roll — a Cadillac commercial last year featured the highway. The highway itself has multiple switchbacks and an amazing overlook without guard rails in all places. Pikes Peak is one of Colorado’s famous ‘fourteeners’ — mountains that exceed an elevation of 14,000 ft. At 14,115 ft Pikes Peak was said to be the inspiration for Katharine Lee Bates to pen the words to America The Beautiful after a visit to the summit. (Photo,courtesy Colorado Springs Film Commission)

(Photo, courtesy Film Victoria )

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F E AT U R E

FEATURE - EUROPE

YOU CAN

SHOOT ANYTHING HERE IT’S STILL HARD TO BEAT EUROPE AS FAR AS THE VARIETY OF LOCATIONS IS CONCERNED. AND IT’S NOT JUST BECAUSE THE CONTINENT IS BEAUTIFUL, FULL OF CONTRAST AND ACCESSIBLE, IT ALSO REALLY WANTS YOUR BUSINESS. ANDY FRY REPORTS

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FEATURE - EUROPE

DECISIONS about where to shoot movies generally revolve around three issues: creativity, quality-control and cost. What locations does the script require and are they accessible or affordable? If they are not, are there locations that can be used as doubles or cost-effective studios where the same visuals can be achieved? If stand-in locations or studios are identified, what is the support infrastructure like? Will the cast be happy filming there? And will the local technical talent be up to the job? Is there a film incentive that tips the balance in favour of one location or a co-production treaty that makes shooting across two territories a financial no-brainer? The list of questions goes on, but it’s fair to say that Europe has the answers to most of them. Mile for mile, there’s not another continent that can boast such a richness of urban culture, geographic wonders, specialist production skills, hard-working crews, equipment,

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Les Miserables, on location at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London

studios and post-production facilities. Added to this is the fact that Europe wants to host production. Whether it’s films flying in from Hollywood or productions criss-crossing between European countries, the evidence suggests that movies and high-end TV series have a positive economic impact. So far, so good. But how does a producer decide on which part of the continent to film in? After all, there’s a world of difference between Belfast and Bucharest when it comes to shooting a film. A good starting point is the EUFCN, aka the European Film Commission Network. Formed in 2007, it has two main goals, says Arie Bohrer, president of the EUFCN and head of the Austrian Film Commission: “The first is to provide producers of film and TV drama with objective advice. The second is to share experiences so that we can raise standards within our industry.” With 84 members in 26 countries, including Russia and the Ukraine, this means producers can gain a comprehensive assessment of what is achievable where. Bohrer explains: “Each individual EUFCN member will want to promote their own country or region as a location. But if there’s a production they can’t accommodate or that requires multiple locations, then this net-

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Germany, a unique ﬁlmmaking location

ﬁnd out more: www.location-germany.de

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FEATURE - EUROPE

/// work is a way of getting guidance on the best

alternatives.” It’s also a great way of getting up to speed on the issues concerning film commissioners in Europe. “We have regular meetings to discuss the issues facing us as a group. That could be anything from EU issues through regional film incentives to how to do environmentallyfriendly film shoots,” Bohrer adds. In terms of Europe’s production hot spots, these tend to be countries that combine excellent infrastructure with an attractive financial offer. The UK, for example, generated £631m (€747.2m) of investment from 26 films in 2012, of which 70% was feature-film production spend. This year is also shaping up to be a busy year, according to Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission and Film London. “Productions booked in include Cinderella [2014], Jupiter Ascending [2014], Disney’s Muppets [2014] sequel and a Tom Cruise sci-fi thriller called All You Need Is Kill [2014]. And there are more big projects on their way.” The Tom Cruise movie will be filmed at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and create 500 jobs. According to Wootton, the key reason why the industry is firing on all cylinders is the tax credit introduced in 2007. “The UK has always had great studios, crews, locations and post-production. But the tax credit gave the private sector the confidence to invest in infrastructure and talent. You can see that in the activity at Pinewood and Elstree, and with Warners acquiring Leavesden. We are also in the fortunate position of hav-

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Scottish city Glasgow has been particularly active, operating as a location for high-profile movies including World War Z

ing many of the world’s top VFX companies based in London. The result is that productions like Skyfall [2012] and Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [2011] can come to the UK and be completely confident that a production will run smoothly.” That claim is endorsed by Tony To, executive vice-president of production at Walt Disney Studios, who has produced in the UK since 2000. With Muppets 2 shooting at Pinewood in 2013, he says: “Our experiences in the UK have been extraordinarily positive, thanks to its world-class crews, quality vendors, local talent and spectacular locations.” London has been a big beneficiary of the UK boom, with 1,671 feature-filming days logged in 2012. One interesting project to use London was Les Misérables (2012), based on the Victor Hugo story set in France. Locations used as doubles for Paris included St Mary Magdalene Church in Paddington and The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, which served as Paris’ Place de la Bastille. But there is also a lot of activity in other parts of the British Isles, Wootton adds. “The consistency of the UK offer has given filmmakers the confidence to go out to places like Glasgow, Manchester and Yorkshire. And then there’s the work being done by BBC Wales [which was recently involved in high-end drama co-production Da Vinci’s Demons, 2013] and Northern Ireland Screen, whose investment in local infrastructure brought in HBO’s Game Of Thrones [2011 onwards].” The Scottish city of Glasgow has been particularly active, operating as a location for high-profile movies including World War Z (2013), Cloud Atlas (2012) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013). Now, there is talk that it will try to build its own state-of-the-art studio facilities so that it is able to compete for bigger pieces of high-end productions. There is no doubting the quality of the UK package. But how does it compete with countries that have cutprice studios and crews? “We’re not complacent,” Wootton says. “But the truth is that our key competition is from countries like Canada. Often there are hidden costs with places that, on the surface, seem cheaper. It might be

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NORTHERN IRELAND: THE POTENTIAL IS BREATHTAKING

“A cinematic texture was essential … all hail Northern Ireland, the new New Zealand”

Ian nathan, EmpIrE magazInE

“Rural, mist-shrouded spots that have seen Belfast and its surrounding area become a favoured location”

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Stunning locations from beautiful coastlines to idyllic villages; mountains, glens and loughs

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Urban landscapes and bustling cities with a diverse mix of architectural styles

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Titanic Studios in Belfast with a total of 106,000 sq ft of space

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The Linen Mill studios, 77,000 sq ft in a 32-acre rural setting

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A professional and flexible crew base

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Cost benefits and production funding

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Tax breaks now available across feature film and high-end television drama

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ShortlISt

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/// extra travel and hotel costs for heads of department, or parts needing to be

flown in. Those costs can mount up quickly.” Similar in stature to the UK is Germany, where strong federal support for the film industry has played a big part in attracting production. Launched in 2007, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) has supported 642 projects with €356m. Projects to have benefitted include Jim Jarmusch’s vampire drama Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), Tony Pemberton’s Buddha’s Little Finger (2013), A Most Wanted Man (from a John le Carré novel, 2013), Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac (2013) and Cloud Atlas (2012), from Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tywker. With the DFFF’s investment reckoned to have generated $2.8bn (€2.19bn) of Germany-based spending, the government has now increased the fund to €70m a year until 2015. Explaining why, Bernd Neumann, federal government commissioner for culture and the media, says: “[The DFFF] has become a major pillar in Germany’s film industry. It is responsible for making Germany an attractive location for film production. The demand for funding makes it clear how important it was to increase the funding available.” A big beneficiary of DFFF funding has been the Berlin Brandenburg region, which boasts great locations and a worldclass studio in the shape of Babelsberg, located about 35 km outside Berlin in Potsdam. Founded in 1912, the last few years have been good to Babelsberg, with titles including Inglourious Basterds (2009), Cloud Atlas (2012), Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) and Anonymous (2011) passing through its doors. In the case of Anonymous, for example, Elizabethan London was recreated at the studio. Babelsberg’s shooting schedule in 2013 includes The Book Thief, The Monuments Men and The Grand Budapest Hotel. The names involved in these projects underline the high regard in which Germany is held. The Monuments Men, for example, is directed by and stars George Clooney, alongside the likes of Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and Jean Dujardin. As for Wes Anderson-directed The Grand Budapest Hotel, the ensemble cast includes Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton and Owen Wilson. Another interesting point about The Grand Budapest Hotel is that it attracted both DFFF funding and €450,000 from regional film body Medienboard Berlin Brandenberg. All told, Berlin Brandenberg has €25m a year, which comes on top of the DFFF’s €70m. In practical terms, this means a film that spends €15m in Germany could get up to €4m back from the DFFF and

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Productions like Skyfall can come to the UK and be completely confident that a production will run smoothly

Berlin Brandenberg combined. Other films to have done this include Inglourious Basterds, Cloud Atlas and Palme d’Or winner Amour (2012). Within Germany, the biggest challenge to Berlin Brandenberg comes from Munich and the surrounding region of Bavaria. Anja Metzger, film commissioner at Film Commission Bavaria (FFF Bayern), says her region’s production activity has been on an upward trend since 2008. “We have been increasing our shooting days throughout that time,” she adds. “We are fortunate because we have great locations, a can-do attitude and a world-class technical infrastructure that consists of 2,000 film production companies.” Metzger says Bavaria is so keen to host international films that the state government created a new €6m

Denisa Strbova “filmmakers come to Prague to shoot sights that no longer exist in Berlin, London, Paris and Vienna — at a fraction of the cost” fund specifically for this purpose in 2012. This can be accessed alongside DFFF funding. If Munich has a competitive disadvantage, it is lack of studio space. Although it is home to a world-class studio operator in the shape of Bavaria Film Group, there is little spare capacity. “But we are doing something about it,” Metzger says. “There are plans for extra capacity at the Bavaria Film site. All we are waiting for is agreement from Brussels and then we can get started.”

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SHOOTING IN PROGRESS

HERE IT’S POSSIBLE HERE IT’S EASY

www.bcncatfilmcommission.com

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While there may be a shortage of studio space, Bavaria’s vast geographic expanse means there is no lack of great locations. Films like Hanna (2011), Chalet Girl (2011) and Paul W S Anderson’s Three Musketeers (2011) all came to Bavaria. The last “was a challenging project”, Metzger says. “But Bavaria has an excellent location network, which means it is possible to make the relationship between the production and the various municipalities and cities run very smoothly. We were able to access some historical locations that are usually not opened up to filmmakers.” While Germany has a compelling offer, both Berlin and Munich admit there is tough competition outside the country. Metzger sees Canada as her region’s biggest rival, while Babelsberg Studios points to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, the UK and Australia. Explaining the appeal of the Czech Republic, Denisa Strbova, project manager for the Czech Film Commission, cites “awesome locations, world-class facilities and exceptional talent — all for reasonable prices”. Also significant was the introduction of incentives in 2010 — and the fact that Czech Republic is film friendly. In terms of locations, Strbova says: “The diversity and easy accessibility of locations is one of the main reasons filmmakers return. Prague has been a big draw, appearing in many films, and not just as the Czech capital. Often filmmakers come to shoot sights that no longer exist in Berlin, London, Paris and Vienna — at a fraction of what it would cost in those cities.” Aside from the location offer, Prague has some of the most sophisticated sound stages in Europe, Strbova says. Barrandov Studios has 14 purpose-built soundproof stages and complete support facilities within minutes of downtown Prague, the largest of which hosted The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008). Barrandov also has a 160,000 sq m backlot that has seen set-builds for A Knight’s Tale (2001), Oliver Twist (2005), The Brothers Grimm (2005), and Shanghai Knights (2003). Prague Studios, meanwhile, hosted Wanted (2008), while Film Studio Gatteo, in the south of the city, has five sound stages and an 18 cubic-metre water tank. Projects come to the Czech Republic from all over Europe. Last year’s key titles were Susanne Bier’s thriller Serena (2013), the Norwegian-CzechDanish-German co-pro The Down’s Detective (2013) and Denmark’s A Royal Affair (2012). Other titles included Jean-Pierre Ameris’ L’Homme Qui Rit (2012); Crossing Lines (2013), a Franco-Czech crime series co-pro; and The City Of Lies (in development), directed by Tim Robbins. While the capabilities of the Czech industry are not in doubt, the country’s recent experience shows what happens when you do not have a competitive tax incentive. Until the start of the last decade, the Czech Republic was the preferred destination for filmmakers in Central and Eastern Europe. But that changed in 2004 when Hungary introduced attractive tax breaks and started winning work.

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barrandov Studios’ set under construction for Shanghai Knights

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With projects like Hellboy II (2008), Season Of The Witch (2011), Bel Ami (2012) and HBO’s TV mini-series John Adams (2008) heading for Hungary, the Czechs saw revenue from movie and drama productions drop from $270m in 2003 to $40m in 2008. Meanwhile, in Hungary, public support for the sector has encouraged private investment. Korda Studios, opened in 2006, had six sound stages operating at full capacity by 2011, with high-end TV projects including World Without End (2012) passing through. Then came a studio joint venture between Hollywood-based Raleigh Studios and Hungary’s Origo Film Group. This has gone on to attract projects such as the romantic comedy Monte Carlo (2011) and A Good Day To Die Hard (2013). Hungary continues to attract projects. But the Czech Republic responded in 2010 by introducing its own tax credit — a 20% rebate on qualifying Czech spend and 10% on qualifying international spend — and has reasserted itself. In 2013, according to Strbova, €19.5m in incentives will be allocated by the Czech State Fund for the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography. “Budapest is a comparable city, prices are good there and the incentive system seems to work smoothly,” she adds. “Before 2010, when our incentive was launched, the Czech Republic lost many potential international projects to Hungary. However, if producers have a choice, they would mostly go to Prague. The incentives are the key point in the decision-making process.” Ironically, the Czechs and Hungarians are now having to look over their shoulders at other Eastern European countries, such as Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and the Baltics, which have also started to offer cut-price services. Romania, for example, hosted Nic Cage’s Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (2011); The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman (2013), starring Rupert Grint; and History Channel US’ epic six-hour mini-series Hatfields And McCoys (2012), which was shot in Romania to capture the remoteness of 19th century Appalachia. Despite some reluctance among cast and crew to take such a quintessentially US drama abroad, thus depriving the US of work, Romania did a pretty good job, according to lead actor Kevin Costner. “We were served very well by the people out there,” he said after the shoot finished. “No matter what the weather conditions were, you looked and people were right there with us.” With the UK and Germany concerned about Canada, and Hungary under threat from cheaper rivals, one

GREEN SCREEN THREAT ONE BIG challenge identified by Film France CEO Patrick Lamassoure is the rise of green screens. When the second Sherlock Holmes (2011) was filmed in France last year, the production team used real locations in Strasbourg. But, for scenes set in the Place de l’Opera in Paris, they took photos and reconstructed everything on the computer. In response, Lamassoure says: “We have to think about the future and develop the services we offer to companies.” He gives the example of The Smurfs 2 (2013). Seeing that there was a possibility of Notre Dame being digitally created rather than shot as a location, Film France and the French executive producer of the movie suggested French companies skilled in VFX. As a result, the production company chose a French contractor for VFX. “What this shows is the importance of having a complete industry infrastructure to go with any incentives,” Lamassoure adds.

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EUFCN enjoys the sinergy of 83 member film commission from 26 European Countries and promotes the European film industry and culture. EUFCN connects film commissions, producers and all other important players of the film industry. Find your best crew, locations and infrastructure with us and our member film commission.

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tion is global,” he says, “so we see situations where the UK can work with Hungary, rather than see it is a threat. The tax credits in the two countries are quite complementary, so a US filmmaker can look to the UK for the heavylifting but then break off bits of work for Hungary.” The Germans are also thinking collaboratively. In February, Munich’s Bavaria Film Group entered a partnership with Origo Film Studios. For Bavaria Film group managing director Achim Rohnke, this will “enable us to co-offer our studio services and mobile production services for major productions all over Europe”. Origo CEO Ilona Kecskes makes a similar point: “We will be able to meet and manage international competitive demands jointly and therefore more effectively. In Germany and in Hungary, there are film funds and sponsorships with different focuses that can be combined.” With many productions requiring diverse locations, collaboration does seem like a way for Europe to fend off the global challenge. Once again, EUFCN has a role to play, Bohrer believes, linking up countries with complementary offerings. “My country, Austria, has great locations — castles, forests, mountains, historic buildings — but we don’t have a lot of studios or very competitive incentives. So a model that could work for us is to have exteriors filmed here and studio work handled one-and-a-half hours away in Munich.” While the UK, Germany and Eastern Europe are all well positioned, other parts of Europe are also seeing plenty of production. The Belgian region of Flanders, for example, has become a key hub. Explaining why, Christian De Schutter, manager of Flanders Image, said: “It all started with the Belgian tax shelter, launched about a decade ago. Then there’s a new economic fund, Screen Flanders, which is aimed at attracting co-productions to Flanders. That’s the incentive part. But we also have historic and contemporary architecture and landscapes. A good thing is that these locations have not been over-used in films. They are perfect stand-ins for other difficult-to-obtain [historic] film locations abroad.” As for skills, De Schutter says: “Don’t underestimate the entrepreneurship and resourcefulness of the Flemish, the fact that we’re multilingual and that there’s not that much red tape. We have highly qualified technicians and are located in the centre of Europe, only a stone’s throw from cities like London, Paris and Berlin. And we have built up experience through facilitating international productions. What has also helped is that we have had a series of indigenous films break through internationally, at both festivals and theatrically. These films are the perfect calling cards.” In terms of the work, De Schutter cites the BBC/HBO series Parade’s End (2012); The White Queen (2013), a 10-part BBC/Starz series; and features such as Grace Of Monaco (2013), The Fifth Estate (2013) and the Marvin Gaye biopic Sexual Healing (in development). “The good news is that word is getting out,” he adds. “The producers of Parade’s End talked to the team on The White Queen and convinced them that we were up to the job. Personal recommendations are always the best you can get.”

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The healthy situation in places like Bavaria, Flanders and Northern Ireland is a reminder that one of Europe’s strengths is the competition between regions within its nation states. In Lazio, the region around Rome, for example, a €45m film fund has been in operation for the years 2011-2013, available to productions that spend 40% of their budget in Lazio. Overall, €260m has been mobilised, with films that have benefited including Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love (2012). Presenting the benefits of the fund at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, Lazio councillor for arts, culture and sports Fabiana Santini said: “We chose to invest during the recession and time has proved us right. We have helped halt the flight of investments from our region and maintained the level of investment in film production.” Catalunya film commissioner Elena Subira Roca says Barcelona’s audiovisual sector has also weathered the recession pretty well, with the city and its surrounding area seeing a wide range of features, commercials, short films and animation last year. “One big advantage of Catalunya is that you can get from Mediterranean beaches to snowy mountains in a short space of time,” she says. Also important is the size of the talent pool:

FEATURE - EUROPE

/// trend noted by Wootton is more collaboration within Europe. “The competi-

Leifur Dagfinnsson “Iceland doesn’t just have distinctive locations, but it can also double for places like the Arctic, the Himalayas and the Mongolian tundra” “We have 1,500 companies working in the audiovisual sector. Whatever kind of production comes here will find everything is in place, from great post-production to studios in Terrassa [40 km from Barcelona].” Examples of features to have shot in Catalonia include Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Red Lights (2012), Fragile (2005), Perfume (2006) and, most recently, Grand Piano (2013), starring Elijah Wood. Probably there would have been more if Spain had bet-

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/// ter incentives. “It’s difficult to attract the big productions when you don’t have

attractive tax breaks,” Subira Roca admits. “But it’s something Spain is looking at more closely now because of the ongoing economic crisis.” Even without competitive incentives, Barcelona has other things in its favour. “The weather is good, which means you aren’t losing days of production,” Subira Roca says. “And it’s a fun place to be, which means casts are happy to be based here. We also keep permitting cheap and easy to do. Most public locations are free to shoot in, which can add up to a big saving for a production.” Catalonia is not the only place in Spain that wants better incentives. The Balearic Islands, which have hosted productions including The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), believes Spain-level incentives would help it compete with Mediterranean locations such as Malta, which has succeeded in attracting projects like World War Z (2013). A couple of Spanish regions benefit from regional incentives, however. Valencia offers up to 20% of local spend in the region to international producers, and boasts a state-of-the-art studio in Ciudad De La Luz. Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) has an extremely attractive 38% tax credit. This has resulted in a wave of productions, such as Universal’s Fast & Furious 6, which switched from Marseille in France to Tenerife to secure the rebate. Other movies to film in Gran Canaria include The Wrath Of The Titans (2012) and Invasor (2012), which used the islands to double up for Iraq. But there’s no question that the competition is intensifying for Spain. Turkey attracted productions including Argo (2012), Skyfall (2012) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) with its VAT rebate, backed by great locations and crews. In the case of Argo, the production received a $300,000 tax rebate. Although not yet ratified, the government is also looking at a package that would give filmmakers up to 25% of the expenditures they make while shooting a film in Turkey. In 2012, Paris welcomed 988 productions, an increase of 5% year on year, representing 3,307 days of filming. France also continues to attract high-profile films such as The Tourist (2010), Hugo (2011) and Midnight In Paris (2011). But this should not be allowed to disguise the fact that the industry faces significant challenges, according to Film France CEO Patrick Lamassoure. “There are things you can’t control, like the economic situation and exchange rates. But France has also been less competitive because its incentive system has been overtaken by other countries.” Back in 2004, France introduced incentives that helped boost the industry. But by late in the decade, these had failed to keep up. The result was that less international work came to France and more French productions went abroad. “The loss of French production was the biggest worry,” Lamassoure says, “because that is the core of our business. It accounts for around 95% of all the production taking place in France.” The government responded in 2009 by introducing TRIP, a tax

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THE WHITE QUEEN, shooting at Bruges City Hall. ©Screen Flanders

FEATURE - EUROPE

rebate for international productions. But it is only now that it is addressing the issue of runaway French productions, Lamassoure says: “As part of the 2013 finance law, the French parliament has boosted tax credits for production companies in order to make France more attractive to French filmmakers. When that starts to take effect then, hopefully, it will keep more production in France.” At the same time as introducing new incentives for domestic production, the government has raised the TRIP cap from €4m to €10m and also included accommodation expenses as an eligible cost. In simple terms, Lamassoure says, this means France is better able to tempt bigger movie productions. “The relevance is that we now have a big studio on the edge of Paris [Luc Besson’s Cinema City]. So productions can base locations and studio work here. Before, we might have got the locations work, but seen the studio work and a lot of the money go to London or Berlin,” he adds. While the general picture across Europe is of producers chasing incentives, this cannot be at the expense of great locations. One country that has benefited from this is Iceland, where production service firm TrueNorth has seen a boom in business over the last two or three years. “Since the economic crisis here, we have got back on the map,” TrueNorth chairman Leifur Dagfinnsson, says. “In 2011, we had Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. The opening waterfall sequence from the film was shot here, and so were the alien planet exteriors. Then last year we had four major movies: Oblivion (2013), Noah (2014), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013). So that was Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe and Ben Stiller all on location.” Dagfinnsson says Iceland has definitely benefited from a 20% tax rebate that was introduced in 2009. “But that wouldn’t matter if we didn’t have such amazing locations and crews. Iceland doesn’t just have distinctive and unusual locations, but it can also double

CHRISTIAN DE SCHUTTER “DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE FLEMISH ... WE’RE MULTILINGUAL AND THERE’S NOT THAT MUCH RED TAPE” for places like the Arctic, the Himalayas and the Mongolian tundra. It’s also a great jumping-off point for films that are interested in reaching the unspoilt snow and ice expanses over on Greenland.” All in all, then, Europe is a filmmaker’s paradise. But are there any clouds on the horizon? Well possibly three. The first is the rise of green-screen filmmaking. The second is that the European Commission is looking at whether local film incentives distort competition — a big issue for the EUFCN. And the third is the precarious situation in some of Europe’s economies. With producers often using film incentives to try to unlock loans, banks are currently more inclined to lend against established rebate schemes. This may militate against countries with unsettled economies that try to kick-start production with new incentives.

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life on location

A film industry is growing in this East-African nation. Debbie Lincoln found three distinct examples of how Kenya is growing both in popularity as a film location, and as a source of great stories and some remarkably creative minds

life on location - kenya

kenya on screen

The message of peace in Ni Sisi! is relevant across Africa, and the rest of the world

A BAND of Danish film professionals has been travelling back and forth to Kenya for some years now, not for one project, but for several. So what is the pulling power of this East African nation for production crews from Scandinavia? Something is certainly working well, and Pontact Productions, headed up by Jenny Pont, which offers production services for film, TV, documentary or commercials projects in Kenya, is profiting from this collaboration. It’s not hard to highlight the attractions of Kenya, the fabulous landscapes and people, but also the fact that the local film industry has grown in recent years has resulted in a source of technicians, actors and crews with growing experience. Historically much of the filming in East Africa has been in the documentary and natural history genre, but Pont points to lesser-known assets, for example modern city

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locations, beaches, mountains, Arab culture and the potential for exterior set building. The latest project from this fruitful Danish/Kenyan connection is A Hijacking (2012) — Kapringen in Danish — a feature film that tackles the consequences of a hijacking at sea. Director and writer Tobias Lindholm, who’s father was a seaman, has long been fascinated by the lives of seafarers, and has strong memories of the news of Danish freighters falling victim to pirates. Despite the subject this is not an action movie, as Lindholm homes in on the emotional drama of the characters. The story follows the cargo ship MV Rozen, staffed with an international crew looking forward to reaching harbour, when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Negotiation involving the demand for millions of dollars between the CEO of the shipping company, played by Søren Malling, and the

Somali pirates forms the psychological drama at the centre of this film, and particularly the emotional torture of ship’s cook Mikkel (Pilou Asbæk) as he is held hostage for months, desperately wanting to get home to his wife and young child. “Pontact had lately been involved with several Scandinavian productions,” Pont says. This includes Oscar and Golden Globe Best foreign language film winner Hævnen (In A Better World), Kidnappet (Lost In Africa), and an episode of the successful TV series Börgen. “Coincidentally, Tobias Lindholm was one of the writers of that episode and the production manager, Maj-Britt Paulmann Dalsgaard vowed to return, and was true to her word, contacting me within the year with tentative enquiries about ‘a pirate movie’, on which she was line producer for Nordisk Film Production.” This was

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life on location - kenya

in May 2011, with a planned shoot in September/October that year. “We had a good feeling that this could be the right place to shoot A Hijacking,” Paulmann Dalsgaard says, adding: “There were several things that pointed us to Kenya. We wanted to find a place as near to where [piracy] actually happens as possible, to make the film as authentic as possible. And we needed to find the right ship and location.” Pontact was tasked with a challenging shopping list in preparation for the Nordisk production. “They required a ship for three weeks shooting, of which four days would be at sea. We began by thinking big but cost and availability necessitated reducing our ambitious ideas. Within a very short time our ‘man in Malindi’ [a town on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, northeast of Mombasa], Han van Schooneveld, had identified a fleet of smaller ships whose owners were willing to consider hiring them out to us. Three of the fleet — sister ships built in Germany in the 1970s — had been victims of Somali pirates.” One of the boats, MV Semlow, was held for 100 days before being released in 2005. “We were incredibly fortunate and privileged to spend an evening with the Semlow crew, all of whom still work for the company, to gain valuable research information,” Pont says. “ And they eventually agreed to be part of the shoot as working extras. It proved impractical to anchor the ship in Mombasa Harbour for the shoot, mainly because of the very necessary strict security measures required to enter the port on a daily basis. “Han identified unused cement silos and a dock at English Point which was a stone’s throw from the luxury Tamarind Apartments where we accommodated the foreign crew. Things were taking shape,” Pont says. The final negotiations for the hire of the ship were between Nordisk and the ship owners, and Pont Productions put their efforts to other elements of the production, including local crew hire, casting, transportation, local equipment hire, accommodation, licensing and dealing with the local authorities, hire of weapons and local security, props and art department, and hire of costumes. But of course a ship with a film crew and cast of up to 70 people on board is itself a target for pirates, and special security arrangements had to be made that didn’t compromise the shooting. A more predictable problem shooting at sea is the never-ending swell. “The first day at sea, 90% of the Kenyan crew were seasick, including the unit nurse. However, most found their sea legs on the subsequent trips,” Pont says. The local community not only benefited economically from the arrival of an international film production, but also experience was gained by local crews. “It was a great experience for everyone to work on a feature film with such a small and efficient crew,” Pont says. And the shoot had some

Pilou Asbæk plays Mikkel, the ship’s cook, a valuable hostage for the Somali pirates who take control of MV Rozen in A Hijacking

maj-britt paulmann dalsgaard

“We wanted to find a place as near to where piracy actually happens, to make the film as authentic as possible” long-lasting benefits for the local community in coastal Kenya. “As well as a great understanding and bonding between our crew and Somali cast, the Danish crew visited some local orphanages and are still sponsoring some of the students’ education,” Pont says. Their new Danish friends also sent packages of football equipment from Denmark to supply Somali youth teams. A mark of how the Kenyan government is keen to support filming in the country, by home-grown as well as international productions, is the fact that Peter Mutie, CEO of the Kenyan Film Commission, accompanied Jenny Pont on a recce day and visited the ship with his marketing manager. This interest was welcomed by Pont: “Kudos to Peter Mutie”. As well as an “ambitious” Kenyan production in the near future, Pontact Productions already has several undisclosed Scandinavian projects coming up, proving that whatever reasons there are for this fertile co-operation the production pipeline between Scandinavia and Kenya is still flourishing. A Hijacking has enjoyed a successful run of film festivals so far, winning honours and stellar reviews at Thessaloniki, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and Venice, and has secured sales deals around the world. Jinna Mutune is a Kenyan filmmaker who has directed and produced short films, music videos and theatrical plays both in America and Africa. Her new film, Leo, bills itself as an adult fairy tale and is set in Nairobi, a bustling Kenyan city that is a melting pot of East African culture, art, politics and commerce. It is a story about a Maasai boy, raised in a lowincome home, achieving his dream against all odds. Everyone around Leo thinks he has his head in the clouds, but a friendship with a

young American boy leads Leo to prove that superheroes can exist — not only in his imagination, but in reality. Director Mutune’s credentials include a degree from the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA, Cape Town, South Africa) and a course in Film Studies from the Houston Community College in Texas, US. The timeline for the project is daunting, consisting of “eight months of writing, one and a half years of sourcing funding, 40 days of shooting and two years of marketing”. Mutune raised the money from three private investors. “Independent films are quite challenging. Limited funding pushed our team to be very resourceful,” she says. Mutune amassed a cast that mixed mature performers with some stunning debuts. Trevor Gitonga, in the title role, is a budding young actor with a string of theatrical and television projects behind him. In contrast his new pal in the film is played by young American Conor Ailin Lyons in his first movie role. Hollywood actor David Morin plays Conor’s hard-working, and distant, father; Kenyan actor Jeff Koinange plays the villain mired in corruption and injustice; and Gowi Odera plays Leo’s father who is determined that he will keep on a straight path, unlike his older brother Fela (Paddy Mwangi) who, although idolised by Leo, gets dragged into the seedy underbelly of city life. Debut actress Alice Odera plays Leo’s long-suffering mother, moving from laughter to tears in an effort to keep her family on track, and theatre actress Kui Maina plays Mona, a woman with a past desperate to find love and validation. The film was shot entirely in Kenya, in downtown Nairobi, the Massai Mara and the slum towns of Kangemi and Ngong. All the crew was Kenyan apart from Abe Martinez, a Hollywood cinematographer who has extensive experience as a cameraman for movies including Spider-Man 3 (2007), Fast & Furious (2009) and up-coming Tom Cruise-starrer Oblivion (2013). Making the most of having such experience in the crew, Mutune was keen

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/// to bring education into the project. “The focus

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puller who worked under Abe Martinez was under an informal mentorship programme, and his cinematography skills greatly benifited. We also had a way of combining the heads of department with newbies in the industry,” she says. “African cinema is very young, so distribution for African stories is almost not there. It makes it quite challenging for a filmmaker who has a product but cannot easily find distribution channels. This is something we are still trying to figure out with Leo, and we hope we will have it easier with the next film,” Mutune says. However she is decidedly positive about her future and the future of her industry. “There is an African/Kenyan cultural renaissance that has created such a hub of innovative artists. The future is so bright for telling African stories outside the norm of poverty, war, and a famine-stricken continent.” Film festivals in Africa have also blossomed. “They are so many I can’t quite keep up, but I look forward to Zanzibar Film Festival where I screened my first work as a filmmaker, and also FESPACO in West Africa, and Durban Film in South Africa,” she says. The future is certainly brighter for African filmmakers while there are young ambitious directors like Jinna Mutune, with eyes firmly on the future, minds focused on sourcing funds and an imagination tuned to finding new stories to tell. “I usually have so many stories running through my head ... as we promote Leo, I’m in pre-production with the second film.” The tagline for Leo is Dream, Dare, Believe, words that could apply to the work of Mutune. In February 2013 feature film Ni Sisi! (It Is Us!) launched at the Australian High Commission in Nairobi before its theatrical release across Kenya, showings on TV and local screenings in the week leading up to the national election. The film is an adaptation of Kenyan NGO S.A.F.E.’s long-running street theatre play of the same name. It was decided that the drama should be put on screen for maximum exposure of the message of peace in response to fears of a repeat of the post-election violence of 2007/8 which resulted in the deaths of over 1,300 people and internal displacement of up to a further 750,000 people. Cutting between footage of the live stage play and filming on location, Ni Sisi! portrays a typical Kenyan community: a harmonious muddle of tribes, intermarriages, and extended families. When vicious rumours begin to spread, very quickly mistrust takes hold and friends who have lived and worked together all their lives start identifying others by tribe. Fear escalates and in a matter of days the foundations of the community are threatened. The film’s key aim, according to S.A.F.E.’s director of development, Sarah Kennedy, is to remind Kenyans that it is individuals who have the power to say no to the factors that caused the violence after the last

jinna mutune

“I HAVE SO MANY STORIES RUNNING THROUGH MY HEAD”

election, namely tribalism, rumours and corruption. It was important that the film could be seen by as many people as possible before the March election. This necessitated a production schedule that would make Hollywood studios green with envy. “We were invited to apply for the grant to make the film at the end of August. We started shooting in the middle of November, and then went into post-production at the very beginning of January. The film was released to cinemas on February 22,” Kennedy says. S.A.F.E. executive director Nick Reding, who directed the movie, says: “Promoting peace is the most important project S.A.F.E. has ever undertaken. Violence threatens everyone in Kenya and undermines the work being done to overcome other social challenges such as HIV/AIDS. We hope as many people as possible see the film.” Ni Sisi! features well-known actors from Kenyan stage and screen, including Jacky Vike and Joseph Babu Kimani, star of Nairobi Half Life (2012) and winner of Best Actor at Durban International Film Festival 2012. Kimani says: “Starring in Ni Sisi! has given me an opportunity to use my talent to make a difference and advocate for peace, reconciliation, co-existence and unity for my country. Ni Sisi! enhances and fosters our united Kenyan identity. Everyone has to spread that message. Ni Sisi!” Ambitions for Ni Sisi! are still alive even though the election, that thankfully passed off peacefully, is over. “The messages in the film — anti-tribalism, anti-corruption, pro-peace — are relevant for so many other potential and post-conflict countries in Africa and across the world. The film was made to have universality in its peace message,” Kennedy says. “We will be submitting it to international film festivals.” For the immediate future S.A.F.E. is not planning another film project, Kennedy says it would take too much time and energy away from the objectives of the charity. “What is next for S.A.F.E. is to get back to using performing arts and community programmes to educate, inspire and deliver social change. We will be devising a new performance about HIV/AIDS and hope to get funding to educate communities about public health issues: HIV prevention, sexual health, gender-based violence and treatment adherence.” S.A.F.E.’s activities have been achieving results across Kenya since 2002. And S.A.F.E. has some cool friends and high-profile patrons, including actor Daniel Craig, who says: “S.A.F.E. does everything that an effective charity should do. It finds out what the problem is, works with communities to develop solutions, and it does it all in a way that makes sense to those involved. This is where change happens; this is where lives can be saved.” For more information about this film and the extraordinary work of this organisation check out www.safekenya.org

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19/04/13 19:36

SEE WHAT GREAT FILMMAKERS SEE IN SUFFOLK COUNTY

Legendary directors started shooting out here before movies could talk. And theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never stopped. They love our 190 miles of coastline, 42,000 acres of parks, countless vineyards and farms, authentic villages with architecture spanning centuries. And all the talent of the New York film industry. The Made in Suffolk/ Long Island Incentive Program: 30% New York State Film & Post Production Tax Credits Next Exposure Finishing Grant Low Cost Suffolk County-owned buildings, parks, and police services Opportunities to screen finished films at numerous independent theaters Studio Development Project & Incentive Program Property, Sales, Mortgage Tax Relief/Financing available to Propert qualified projects

www.suffolkcountyfilmcommission.com

Steven Bellone, County Executive | Joanne Minieri, Commissioner Deputy County Executive

For more information call Michelle Isabelle-Stark, Director, Film & Cultural Affairs Suffolk County Department of Economic Development & Planning (631) 853-4800 michelle.stark@suffolkcountyny.gov

Film Friendly Long Island

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F E AT U R E

FEATURE - SOUTHERN STATES

DREAMING

OF THE SOUTH WHAT MAKES A FILMMAKER TRAVEL SOUTH IN THE US TO FILM? IS IT THE STORY, THE LOCATIONS, THE PEOPLE, THE BUDGET? DEBBIE LINCOLN DISCOVERS IT’S ALL OF THAT, AND MORE

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FEATURE - SOUTHERN STATES

mia WasikoWska as India in Stoker

there are a number of stereotypical images of the southern states of the US: rolling Atlantic waves, long white beaches, tropical vegetation, long lazy rivers, swamps and live oak, antebellum houses... you can almost hear the soundtrack. It is of course all of that. But to really do the film industry justice in the southern states we must look past the sterotypes and consider filmfriendly towns, talented crews and state-of-the-art production services, and film commissions with more than just porches with rocking chairs, muddy waters and steaming swamps to offer. Director Taylor Hackford was sure that for his film, Parker (2013), a significant amount of location shooting had to take place in Palm Beach in Florida, as the narrative called for it: “It was very site-specific,” he tells Location magazine. The film is based on crime novel Flashfire by Richard Stark, about a ruthless and audacious thief, Parker, played by Jason Statham who, fuelled by vengeance follows his old gang to Palm Beach. Posing as a wealthy Texan looking to buy a home, he meets Leslie (Jennifer Lopez), an amateur realtor, and with her help, he uncovers the gang’s plan to make off with more than $50m worth of jewels and sets up a plan to hijack their booty. But a shoot in what Hackford calls “a brilliantly rich enclave, unlike anywhere else ... an island that’s supposed to have more billionaires per square foot than anywhere else in the country”, was always going to be tricky to arrange. “We needed to get to Palm Beach which is not easy as there are ordinances against filming.” The crew needed access to some very up-market property, shots of the numerous bridges connecting Palm Beach to West Palm Beach on the mainland, and they needed to film on the water, as the thieves make a getaway using scuba equipment to get back to the mansion where they’re holed up in Palm Beach. “When you have a population that rich they really don’t care about Hollywood. But that’s where the Film Commission comes in,” Hackford says. “A filmmaker’s best friend — sometimes more than the studio.” Palm Beach County film commisioner Chuck Elderd, says: “Taylor Hackford kept me on his speed-dial from the first scout that he himself participated in, through various impromptu production meetings in pre-production and production, and even some interesting relevant scenes requiring realism during post production.” Hackford also had help from Bill Metzger from the Palm Beach Film Institute — a charitable educational institute for young people interested in filmmaking — to liaise with some of the authorities. “Even though some of them were sympathetic, they could not go against the law,” Hackford says. “But when you work hard and try to be polite inevitably things happen and I don’t know the meaning of ‘No’, and I knew I needed this.” Elderd was able to identify which roads and bridges could be used to film in Palm Beach, and got the co-operation of the local police department. For the stunning house used in the culmination of the heist, they actually chose an estate across Florida in Sarasota. “Many people are going to think we shot at Mar-A-Lago [a 1920s estate owned by Donald Trump], which is the most famous estate in Palm Beach,” Hackford says. “We found a beautiful mansion which was built by John Ringling of the Ringling Bros. Circus, the same period as Mar-ALargo, the same grandeur, and on the water, and I think when people see the film they’ll never know that the exterior of the house is not Palm Beach.”

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FEATURE - SOUTHERN STATES

/// The situation could not have been more different for

Korean director Chan-wook Park’s first English-language film Stoker (2013). The mysterious psychological drama required a house with character, almost as a character, yet in theory the house could have been anywhere. The film tells the story of Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), left emotionally damaged after her husband’s death, and her daughter India (Mia Wasikowska), as they cope with the arrival of the dead man’s brother, Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). The mysterious, charming man seems to have ulterior motives and the young girl becomes increasingly infatuated with him. The story was not originally set in the south; Park said he wanted a house where the characters could be “trapped in a castle”. The house they found was in Nashville, Tennessee. Kidman, who has settled in Nashville with her husband, country star Keith Urban, famously campaigned for Stoker to be shot in Nashville. “Filming Stoker in Nashville was a dream,” Kidman told Location. “Every night I could say good-bye to the most amazing Tennessee crew and go home. The set was right down the street from where we live.” So for Stoker the location was a question of convenience and well-being, but not compromise. Local location manager Mark Ragland, who worked on the movie, says: “We’re always scouting for houses,” and in this case he hit bullseye. The house was close to the city centre, with enough land to accommodate the shoot, and had agreeable owners. The shape and light of the interiors became part of the gothic atmosphere created by Park, cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung and production designer Therese DePrez. Actress Mia Wasikowska says: “They found a really amazing mansion. It really is another character.” Kidman also talks about the “quality of life” working in Nashville. The cliché of southern hospitality is actually a resource that can work for the film industry. Nashville resident, and stunt co-ordinator for Stoker, Ian

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Quvenzhane Wallis as Hushpuppy in Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Quinn, says: “I can say without reservation that ‘southern hospitality’ is alive and well. It’s really refreshing to be part of a community where success is important, but everyone seems to want everyone else to succeed as well.” Quinn also works on the TV series Nashville, a music-industry TV drama in which the city takes centre stage. “The series has shown that highquality network television can, and is, being produced outside the confines of Hollywood. The city of Nashville has embraced the production and we even had access to the Mayor’s office for some of the scenes. The show, of course, is music-driven and we can draw from an almost limitless talent pool of some of the greatest musicians in America.” The series’ locations manager, Mark Ragland again, says they’ve acquired “quite a library” of homes to use in the series. Ragland says shooting on location for TV is “all about proximity. When you’re doing a movie, you have the luxury of driving a distance to get to a perfect location. Doing episodic [shows], we have to be able to build an entire day out of going to one, say, base camp. It’s important to find the perfect house, but also to find the house that’s in a location where we can quickly go to other scenes.” Beautiful Creatures (2013), is based on the first of a series of books from Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, that places a supernatural love story in a sleepy South Carolina town. The film was actually filmed in Louisiana, with the majority of production taking place in and around New Orleans, and an abandoned factory across the bridge from the city was converted into a series of sound stages that housed most of the sets. Executive director of the state’s film commission, Chris Stelly, says that the film “really fit Louisiansa’s ambiance”. Production designer Richard Sherman was asked to find places that had not been shot before: “Small areas that felt hidden from the world.” Covington, Louisiana, doubled as the film’s town of Gatlin. They used a church in the town but Sherman also looked for less picturesque locations, ultimately finding broken-down buildings, corrugated tin warehouses, leantos and rubble. He also used the exterior of an antebellum house in Morganza, two-and-a-half hours north of New Orleans, to which they added hanging moss. They shot the theatrical interior elsewhere. The script also called for locations for a civil war scene, the Battle of Honey Hill, for which a hill was a necessity. Writer and director of Beautiful Creatures Richard LaGravenese says: “Louisiana, as it turns out, is flat. I was only a few weeks out from shooting and I did not have a hill. Our incredible location manager, Ed Lipscomb, finally found the perfect spot.” Two hours outside of New Orleans in St Fran-

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also shot in Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Kennedy Space Center, also in Florida. Of course locations in the southern states don’t always conform to the stereotypes. South Carolina’s Clark gives the example of Dear John (2010), where they found “Kosovo, Africa, and Afghanistan within 30 minutes of the Charleston beaches that it featured”. Noelle Stevenson, film commissioner, Broward Office of Film & Entertainment, Florida, says that her region can offer alternatives to the Florida stereotypes. As well beaches and The Everglades, she says: “You can pretty much film anything here and make it look like you have gone to various destinations. We have a mountain and a Western town. We also have an area that looks like Massachusetts, which is our Pompano Beach Inlet. The Boardwalk in Hollywood Beach has many times played as Venice Beach, California, in shoots.” Taylor Hackford used his time shooting around New Orleans to double-up locations for Parker. “We shot on the west bank of the Mississippi which is mostly industrial, we were using it for Kentucky and Tennessee and Texas,” he says. “There’s one Bourbon Street location, but aside from that, Louisiana and especially New Orleans stand in for all these other places.” Hackford adds: “Sometimes studios want to shoot everything in Canada regardless of what’s in the script. I wanted to go to the real place.” There is no shortage of directors who feel the same.

FEATURE - SOUTHERN STATES

cisville in a valley. Other New Orleans locations included houses near the Garden district and the Prytania cinema. Based on the 2008 novel The Wettest County In The World by Matt Bondurant, who tells the story of his grandfather and great-uncles who were illegally running moonshine during Depression-ridden rural Virginia, Lawless (2012) was actually filmed in Georgia. The story of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers stars Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska. Among other locations, filming took place in Coweta County and Carroll County — which was also used for 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes. Director John Hillcoat sourced locations that could work for period exteriors, with the help of the local film commission. Another recent film in which the atmosphere of the southern landscape was integral was Beasts Of The Southern Wild (2012), set in a small bayou community. The allegorical tale plays out in a poverty-stricken self-reliant community called Bathtub, that ekes out an existence seemingly away from the rest of the world. After a tremendous storm, resourceful six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) must fight to save her damaged father Wink (Dwight Henry), and what’s left of their sinking dwelling. The production ensemble, lead by director Benh Zeitlin, set the film on a fictional island, Isle de Charles Doucet, and filmed in Terrebonne Parish in Louisiana, using the town of Montegut and the real Isle de Jean Charles, an area well-used to hurricanes and rising sea levels. The word that best describes these locations is authentic, a southern location that really could not be anywhere else. And the same goes for Mud (2012), from writer and director Jeff Nichols, a film in some ways inspired by Mark Twain, and filmed in Nichols’ home state of Arkansas. The story follows two teenage boys (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) who come across a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) and help to hide him from bounty hunters on a river island, so he can re-connect with his soul mate (Reese Witherspoon). In this we see some of the same iconic southern landscapes and towns, and all that wide, wide water, this time filmed in Arkansas, around Dumas, Stuttgart, De Witt, Lake Village and Crocketts Bluff. Nichols is happy to admit that his film plays in to the idea of southern myths, as he told the LA Times: “These places have a particular accent and culture, and they’re getting homogenised. I wanted to capture a snapshot of a place that probably won’t be there forever.” When the production company for TV series Army Wives came down to South Carolina is was to find a location for the fictional Fort Marshall, home to the fictional 23rd Airborne Division that provides the core of the series, filmed by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, for the Lifetime network in the US. Several locations around Charleston are regularly used for the series. Tom Clark, from the South Carolina Film Commission, says: “Army Wives uses the old white wooden houses of the Admirals on the old Charleston navy base as exteriors for their officer family houses, and in general, all of their locations are no more than 30 minutes distance from each other, or their sound stages. Now that the series is approved by DOD [US Department of Defence], they have access to the Charleston Air Force base which has been very helpful.” With the show in its seventh season, the production team is now part of the scenery. “Barbara D’Alessandro, the line producer for Army Wives probably knows more about shooting in Charleston and its locations than we do at the Film Commission,” Clark says, adding: “The main characters are actively involved in charities and social causes in the area. In the slow economy of 2007 and 2008 there were more than a dozen businesses in the state that told us that had they not benefited from income from [the visiting production] they would have closed.” Another destination that brought a film down south was Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011). In this case the shoot needed access to airport facilities and aircraft. Gail Morgan, film commissioner for the Emerald Coast in Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico, was able to help. “They used two locations, the large field next to our regional airport and Hurlburt Air Force Base (AFB). We simulated the back end of the osprey helicopter in the field next to the airport, Northwest Florida Regional, where they did the stunt work. Eglin AFB and Hurlburt AFB public affairs were phenomenal in making everything work between them, the DOD and Paramount. The film

•

making location ‘another character’ FOR A pivotal scene in his film Parker, Taylor Hackford (pictured above with actor Nick Nolte on the set of Parker) needed to shoot along the water and over the bridges that connect Palm Beach to West Palm Beach. This complicated shoot needed a lot of preparation, and help from The Palm Beach County Film & Television Commission (FTC). This included shutting down drawbridges that link West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. Film commissioner, Chuck Elderd, says: “The FTC co-ordinated with many agencies, since the action took place in the air, on land, and in the water.” Hackford says: “After the heist takes place all hell breaks loose and police helicopters and boats are patrolling the inter-coastal waterway around the island. I have a helicopter shot where all three bridges are up simultaneously, over a stretch of probably three to five miles, and there are hundreds of cars backed up — they just let the traffic pile up — as would happen when the island is put in quarantine, with scores of police boats in the water and county sheriff helicopters going around. This is a huge production shot, and it was created by Chuck Elderd. I have a spectacular shot in the film, it’s the real deal. To be able to get that kind of co-operation, and that kind of physical grandeur, you can’t measure it in money. So that’s what you want in a film, you want your locations to be another character.”

22/04/13 13:03

F E AT U R E

FEATURE - CANADA

WELCOME

IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE ALIENS INVADING CANADA. THE PLACE IS TOO BIG, TOO CALM AND TOO BEAUTIFUL. BUT IN FACT YOU CAN SHOOT ALMOST ANYTHING THERE. ADD THAT TO GENEROUS INCENTIVES AND A CENTURY OF PRODUCTION EXPERTISE, AND IT’S NO WONDER THAT THE WORLD’S FILMMAKERS CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THE US’ VAST AND VARIED NEIGHBOUR. CLIVE BULL REPORTS

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FEATURE - CANADA

BORDERING the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans, Canada is the second largest country in the world. So it is perhaps no surprise that it is the vast range of diverse locations available that appeals to so many productions in their search for just the right place to shoot. Canada can offer the most modern high-rise metropolitan skylines, but is also home to some of the oldest cities in North America. And then it’s just a short hop to deep forests and frozen lakes, with a virtual wilderness beyond. The Canadian film industry has a long history, dating back to the end of the 19th century when the likes of Lumière and Edison shot early footage of Niagara Falls. And it’s that heritage that has led to Canada’s reputation not just for great locations, but for expertise as well. Add to that an impressive array of imaginative funding schemes and Canada looks to have something to offer every kind of film production. The three big metropolitan centres for filmmaking are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, each helping to make film production one of the key industries in Canada’s economy. British Columbia, with Vancouver at its heart, has a long and solid reputation, with a robust infrastructure that has the capacity to crew 40 productions simultaneously. Vancouver itself is home to numerous notable landmarks. The new waterfront convention centre has quickly become a favourite spot for moviemakers, standing in for Mumbai in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), while also featuring in series Human Target (2010), Alcatraz (2012) and The Killing (2011). A turn-of-the-century former provincial courthouse, the Vancouver Art Gallery has been used by more than 100 productions, including The Accused (1988), Night At The Museum (2006) and Double

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When an alien attack threatens the Earth’s existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace – in Pacific Rim, which shot in Toronto and surrounding areas

Jeopardy (1999). “The Marine Building is an art deco wonder from 192930,” British Columbia film commissioner Susan Croome, says. “It has a beautiful exterior and an amazing lobby, supposed to evoke a Mayan temple, and has been used in series Smallville (2001-11), Fantastic Four (2005) and Blade: Trinity (2004).” As with much of Canada, it is the versatility of the region and its proximity to its North American neighbour that is a big part of the appeal. Winter mountain environments are within a 20-minute drive of gritty urban streets. Being in the same time zone as Los Angeles also helps. British Columbia prides itself on being film-friendly. “This quality extends from our cities to local residents and businesses and to municipal film offices, who welcome production activity and understand that flexibility and effective communication are essential to the success of on-location filming,” Croome says. A variety of provincial and federal taxcredit schemes are available in British Columbia for domestic and foreign productions. Quebec is Canada’s largest province, covering an area that borders the Hudson Bay to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east. It is Quebec’s European history that makes it special, with Montreal — the province’s largest city — able to provide filmmakers with the contemporary look of a busy capital, as well as an historic backdrop for period pieces. X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014), which sees the X-Men travel in time to change a major historical event that could have a global impact, is filming in Montreal. Tax incentives of up to 45% are offered via the Quebec Film and Television Council. Like Montreal, Toronto — the largest city in Canada — offers European streetscapes alongside steel and glass skyscrapers. It also boasts an Ivy League-style university, industrial buildings, a pioneer village, three Chinatowns and a castle. Incentives and assistance are offered by the Ontario Media Development Corporation. The region has played host to numerous feature films in recent years, including Mama (2013), Total Recall (2012), Kick-Ass 2 (2013) and Pacific Rim (2013). Also within Ontario’s borders is Canada’s capital, Ottawa. The country’s fourth largest city, it too is proving a popular destination for film production, with versatility key to its appeal. It offers the big city,

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districts. House At The End Of The Street (2012) starring Academy Award-winning Jennifer Lawrence was filmed entirely in the region and, apart from the lead actors, the cast and crew were largely from Ottawa as well. “The crews like that they can have the downtown feel, or the centre-of-town feel of modern architecture,” Genevieve Menard Hayles, Ottawa’s film commissioner, says. “But 10 or 15 minutes away you’re all of a sudden in the total Canadian wilderness, surrounded by forest. There are three rivers that lead into Ottawa as well, and hundreds of lakes in the immediate area.” The city has a mixture of American and European architecture, with office towers, grand mansions and gothic revival buildings, many located alongside the Rideau Canal. “We have a lot of requests about the canal as it can potentially replicate Venice, or other areas with waterfronts. It snakes right through the town centre,” Menard Hayles says. In winter, a section of the Canal becomes the longest skating rink in the world. Heading up towards the Arctic Ocean you’ll find the Northwest Territories (NWT). These comprise a massive area, approximately the size of Texas, but with a population of just 41,400. The region offers rugged mountains, sub-arctic forests, glaciers and majestic waterfalls. And, of course, a lot of snow — every kind of snow, and lasting well into May in the northernmost latitudes. Several successful docu-series have filmed in NWT including Ice Pilots and Ice Road Truckers. And TV drama Arctic Air (2012) often ventures north from its base in Vancouver to take advantage of the arctic terrain. “Although any location above the 60th parallel is not conventionally thought of as production-friendly, the Northwest Territories are the exception,” Arctic Air producer Ian Hay, says. “With the well connected and well supplied hub of Yellowknife, it’s possible to produce almost anything there.” Often called the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’, NWT has almost continuous daylight in the summer and very little rain. “Shooting days can be endless,” Camilla MacEachern, NWT’s associate film commissioner, says. “That being said, in the winter months, days become short. In fact, in some communities the sun does not rise at all, which results in 24-hour darkness.” Dealing with the cold is, of course, an issue when temperatures can fall below minus 40 degrees centigrade. “If a person is thinking about filming in the winter, it is crucial that their equipment is suitable to withstand these temperatures. We have many local skilled professionals who can provide advice,” MacEachern adds. It’s the natural phenomena that ultimately make NWT unique. Virginia Falls is almost twice the height of the more famous Niagara Falls; Wood Buffalo National Park is one of the largest such parks in the world; and the coastline near Tuktoyaktuk is dotted by 1,400 ‘pingos’, strangelooking ice-cored hills. Nestling between the Rocky Mountains and the plains, Alberta offers up thriving city centres just a short drive from ice-capped mountains, lush river valleys and arid prehistoric badlands. Brokeback Mountain (2005) used the rugged landscape to such effect that fans of the movie went in search of the mountain of the title, only to find the featured peaks were some 700 miles north of Wyoming in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta. “All of the landscapes and all of the beautiful shots are Alberta,” Kimberley Evans, head of marketing and communications at Alberta Film, says. “It was great to get that exposure for Alberta. When people heard about where Brokeback Mountain was filmed, it did increase our tourism a lot. We think it’s pretty spectacular and shows beautifully on screen.” Also taking advantage of the dusty western trails was Unforgiven (1992), and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007). The latter starred Brad Pitt, who said at the time: “The locations really shaped the feeling of the film. It’s as much a character as the people in the film. We really enjoyed it there.”

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The mountains and the badlands are a natural draw for Westerns, but the landscape has also featured in more futuristic productions, including the first three Superman movies and Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010). Having easy access to the mountains is key. Fortress Mountain, used in Inception, is an old ski hill, “so the infrastructure was already there and you could get quickly right up on to the hill and do the mountain work”, Evans says. Alberta was the natural choice for Drawing Home (2013), which tells the true story of Catharine and Peter Whyte who, in the 1920s, shocked friends and family with their plans to wed and settle in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains. Scenes inside the Whyte’s log cabin were shot in the late couple’s actual home, thanks to an arrangement with the Whyte Museum. The Alberta MultiMedia Development Fund gives productions a percentage back on the total Alberta spend in the form of a grant. There’s a quite different landscape on offer in the Newfoundland and Labrador Province, with centuries-old fishing villages, rivers and falls, fjords and icebergs. The seascapes and foggy coves have made the Trinity Bight area in eastern Newfoundland a regular venue for filmmakers. Lasse Hallstrom captured the bleak beauty of the area in The Shipping News in 2001. The latest production to be drawn to the region was

FEATURE - CANADA

/// along with small-town neighbourhoods, a rugged outdoors and historic

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FEATURE - CANADA

/// Grand Seduction (2013), starring Brendan Gleeson, along with Newfound-

landers Cathy Jones and Gordon Pinsent. Producer Barbara Doran from Morag Loves Company says the area was perfect because it was a remote community, but one that could handle a large production. “We had to find a fishing community that was on the run-down side; that had seen better days. The problem with most of those places is that you don’t have the infrastructure,” she says. “Once you get into a small community, it’s difficult to find housing for up to 250 people. We have local crew that have been exposed to film for the last 13 years, so when the circus pulls into town with the 20 trucks and the cranes, people don’t freak out. They know what it is and they’re delighted.” The combination of a remote but picturesque seascape and a filmfriendly community makes the area particularly unusual. “There are still quite a few traditional wooden clapboard houses that don’t look like houses you’d find in any other city in North America,” Doran says. “Its a very unique kind of fisherman’s house and we found enough of those intact to establish the fact that this was a fishing community that once thrived and is now dying.” The Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation (NLFDC) administers two main programmes: the Equity Investment Program (EIP) and the Newfoundland and Labrador Film and Video Industry Tax Credit. “The EIP is a financial contribution to eligible Newfoundland and Labrador film or television projects, to a maximum of 20% of the total production budget,” NLFDC film commissioner Chris Bonnell, says. “And the Newfoundland and Labrador Film and Video Industry Tax Credit Program

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Canada does good cityscapes too: the Calgary skyline, Alberta (left) A road winds into the mountains of Alberta (right)

is a fully refundable corporate income-tax credit. The tax credit encourages the development, training and hiring of Newfoundland film personnel.” If it’s grand dramatic landscapes and natural terrain you’re after, then Yukon might well be the ideal destination. The province boasts the tallest mountains in Canada, surrounded by vast open vistas. “Yukon is the size of California,” Iris Merritt, film officer at Yukon Film and Sound Commission, says. “However, only 36,000 people live here. You can shoot for 100 miles and not see a tree, a telephone pole, a fence or a house — that’s typically what people come here for.” The Big Year (2011) saw Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin bird-spotting across North America as they attempt to break the record for numbers of species seen in one year. Their journey takes them to remote Attu Island, one of Yukon’s most striking locations. Currently in production are Gold Rush (Discovery) and Yukon Gold (History). There is a 25% rebate of below-the-line Yukon spend available to any company, from anywhere, filming on location in Yukon and hiring Yukon crew. For productions filming in Yukon that have a Yukon coproducer, a 30% rebate of total Yukon spend is available.

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22/04/13 13:06

life on location

The story of the hit BBC television series Death In Paradise occasionally mirrored the real life experiences of cast and crew, many of whom were visiting Guadeloupe for the first time, as they struggled with the weather and other challenges. Julian Newby reports

IT’S A TV scheduler’s dream. There’s a murder in the Caribbean. A beautiful local woman police officer is in charge of the investigation. A handsome, but prickly and ever-so-British detective, flies in to help. And so the story of Death In Paradise unfolds, against the backdrop of the beautiful Caribbean island of Saint-Marie. The Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe, an overseas region of France, was the real-life setting for the series. Guadeloupe is part of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. Christopher Columbus is believed to have been the first European to have landed on the island at the end of the 15th century — and while he was there, discovered the pineapple. It was taken over by the Compagnie des Îles de l’Amérique in 1635 when much of the indigenous population lost their lives, and was officially annexed to the Kingdom of France in 1674. A turbulent history followed marked by conflict relating to the French Revolution, slavery, and periods of occupation by Britain and Sweden, before it finally settled as French with the Treaty of Vienna, in 1815. The end of slavery in 1848 was followed by a cholera epidemic some 20 years later.

life on location - death in paradise

Suffering for their art

ben miller , star of Death In Paradise, cools off between takes

peta adderley

It can rain intensely for 10 minutes and you can’t believe that it was ever sunny

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In 1946 Guadeloupe became an overseas department of France, and in the Seventies, a French administrative centre, with members on France’s National Assembly. Today the official language on Guadeloupe is French, it’s part of the European Union, and French nationals are free to work there and can visit without a passport. And it’s beautiful, and provides much of the appeal of Death In Paradise, which launched on BBC1 in the UK in 2011 and was almost immediately commissioned for a second series — thanks to audience figures in

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life on location - death in paradise

Ben Miller as detective Richard Poole, who doesn’t like the heat, the sand, or seafood

/// excess of six million. Red Planet Pictures,

Atlantique Productions, and Kudos Film & Television produced the series for the BBC and France Télévisions, and BBC Wordlwide is distributor. British actor and comedian, Ben Miller, plays Scotland Yard detective inspector Richard Poole, who is sent to the Caribbean island of Saint-Marie to solve the killing of a policeman. He later finds himself seconded to the local police force as the dead man’s replacement and goes on to solve more murders. He’s frustrated by the pace of life on the island, and doesn’t like the heat, the sand, or seafood. He works alongside local police

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ben miller

“There were lots and lots of really talented local people who are now working in movies

’

chief Camille Nordey, played by Sara Martins, and together, as polar opposites, they work together as a surprisingly effective pair. Miller knew nothing about Guadeloupe when he first heard that it was to be his home for much of the first series’ filming. “Like anyone I Googled it straight away and a very nice picture came up, so I thought, ‘Well that looks better than filming

in a warehouse in Nuneaton’.” And while the critics haven’t all been kind to the series, Miller is certain that Guadeloupe has a lot to do with the “gloriously bonkers, ambitious” show’s popular appeal. “What that ambition gets you is this incredible visual reward, it just doesn’t look like anything else. Of course the stories are very good… but I think it is a lot about the location, it’s so different to anywhere you see on TV,” he said. “I think the location really makes the show.” While it has attracted big audiences to the series, the location brought its fair share of problems too. At one point the crew was shooting a scene on the beach and a sudden

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we could use whatever the weather, but that would probably have had to have been in Pont-à-Pitre which is one of the main cities on the island, and it would have been impossible for us to travel there, especially at short notice. So we just took what we had and made the best we could of the area that we were based in.” Key was impressed with the local talent that was available. “We had a great relationship with the people of Guadeloupe. Many locals appeared as extras, and maybe just under half of the crew members were locals. I guess about half of them had some television experience and half of them didn’t, so we trained some of them up as we went along and that was a nice way to work and really rewarding for us because we felt like we’d made some real friends.” He added: “One of the reasons for us being there is that the government was keen to

tim key

When we go back for series three we want to be welcomed back

’

push Guadaloupe as a location and anything that brings new skill sets on board is really useful for them so all-in-all it was a real collaboration with local people and local crew.” Ben Miller adds: “There were lots and lots of really talented local people who are now working in movies.” Key says it’s important to leave as many positives behind as possible when shooting on location, and that can extend beyond local cast and crew. “There were no film location catering companies out there, all they had were wedding caterers. But we wanted to work with them and although they were fairly small set-ups, having worked on a bigger scale for us, hopefully they are in stronger positions now. It’s important to build these relationships because when we go back for series three we want to be welcomed back.” The main production services company on the island is called Sytek. “They were a godsend to us,” Key says. “We weren’t planning on using much of their kit but the boat that brought half of our gear over for us — we brought it from France — broke down in the Atlantic, so for the first day of the shoot we were without all of our lights, and without our facilities trucks, and our dolly for example was on the boat, and our costume truck was on the boat — and Sytek really saved us by letting us use whatever kit they had. It was a slightly stressful start for the whole thing but it set the tone for us working collaboratively with the local companies.” One benefit of shooting on

Guadeloupe was that the production was eligible for French tax rebate TRIP (see box below). “There was money from the Guadeloupe regional council as a rebate to encourage us to go, but it was a show that needed to be shot on a beautiful island and Guadeloupe ticked all the boxes,” Key says. Miller says the choice of location was crucial to the look, feel and success of Death In Paradise. “I think people really underestimate [location filming], because it informs everything that you do when you’re on set,” he says. “You’re having this extraordinary experience, and that translates to everything that’s happening on set.” And as they got to know Guadeloupe so the writing of the series developed. “The stories in the first series largely centre around tourists to the island, because we were all tourists, that was the only world we knew,” Miller says. “The second series really digs down into the culture, and there are stories about things that came about due to our experiences in the first series.” For Miller the actor, Death In Paradise was nothing but a positive experience. “It has done a tremendous amount for me,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot about filming in tropical climates, and we have gained a lot of local knowledge, which is a very, very useful thing.” He adds: “TV has stepped into the gap where independent features used to sit. There’s no difference now between TV and movies. I went straight from shooting Death In Paradise to shoot a feature film called Molly Moon [Molly Moon: The Incredible Hypnotist, starring Miller and Sadie Frost, 2013] and we were using the same camera.” And then what’s next for Miller? “Probably another series of Death In Paradise the way things are going.”

life on location - death in paradise

flash flood washed much of the equipment into the sea. On another occasion a lightning bolt struck the ground just metres away from cast and crew. And while filming on a boat out at sea, a water-spout suddenly grew in strength and, in Miller’s words, they were forced to take “evasive action”. Then there was the weather. December through May is considered the dry season on Guadeloupe, while June through November is more humid. But rain showers or clear skies can occur at any time during the year. In general, rainstorms pass quickly and the sun shines on most days. “It can rain intensely for 10 minutes and you can’t believe that it was ever sunny,” the series’ location manager, Peta Adderley, says. Average temperatures in coastal areas range from 22º to 30ºC (72º to 86º F) and in inland areas, from 19º to 27ºC (66º to 81ºF). But to Miller it felt rather warmer. “The heat and the climate is a big part of the show. You’re using it in the show and in the story,” he says. And there were rookie errors: “In the first series I was wearing a wool suit… we had the good sense in the second series to make a suit that looked like a wool suit, but that was a little bit less like wearing chain mail.” Where possible they would choose locations that had air-conditioned buildings nearby where the actors could keep cool, “but where there weren’t any we would have to take air-conditioning units with us,” Adderley says. And blazing sunshine can of course affect continuity, with the risk of the actors’ skin colour changing from scene to scene. “Yes I’m not really allowed to go out in the sun,” Miller says. “It wouldn’t really suit Richard to have a golden bronze tan.” In the end the weather became one of the characters of the show. “For example, we incorporated hurricane season into the second series, based on an experience we had while shooting the first series,” Adderley says. There were other problems thrown up by the shape and size of Guadeloupe, and according to second-series producer Tim Key, they often suffered for their art. “We never took the easy option, but it works on screen, it looks beautiful,” he says. “I don’t think there’s any alternative to going out there and doing it for real. We looked at green-screen options and studio builds, but you just wouldn’t get what we were able to get, which was a real feeling for this amazing place.” But for authenticity there is a cost. “Things like the travel times down there are really difficult,” Key says. “There’s one road that takes you around the perimeter of the island and it just takes one lorry to break down on that and a 40-minute journey becomes a two-and-a-half hour-journey. It would have been nice in some ways to have had a couple of sets that were pre-lit, which

•

TAKE A TRIP TO GUADELOUPE WHILE on the island of Guadeloupe, Death In Paradise benefitted from TRIP, the French Tax Rebate For International Productions. TRIP applies to works wholly or partly made in France, the production of which was initiated by a foreign company. They must include elements related to French culture, heritage, and territory. TRIP is selectively granted by the CNC (France’s Centre National du Cinéma) to the line producer of the work in France. It represents 20% of the eligible filming expenses incurred in France, and can total a maximum of €10m per production. Territories outside the French mainland where TRIP operates are Corsica, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Réunion, St. Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Wallis and Futuna.

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F E AT U R E

FEATURE - SMOKE AND MIRRORS

smoke

and

mirrors Part of the magic of cinema is that you can be transPorted to another time, and another Place. but is it alWays the Place that you think it is? it looks like the genuine location â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but Was it really shot there? CliVe BUll finds out

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FEATURE - SMOKE AND MIRRORS

FOR SOME directors you can’t beat the real thing. Steven Spielberg said of War Horse (2011) that it had to be shot in Devon, the setting of the original story, describing the Dartmoor landscape as the “third character” in his film. He said the look of the countryside and the quality of light were unique. Saving Private Ryan (1998) on the other hand, presented different challenges. Although some filming took place in France, the epic D-Day battles were not shot in Normandy but at an aerodrome in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in the UK. If the script requires you to shoot in one of the most famous cities in the world, complete with notable landmarks, then finding an alternative location, because of time or budgetary reasons, can be an even tougher proposition. Some cities however specialise in doubling for others, and can employ a host of tricks and little touches that can convince the viewer that they are somewhere else entirely. A big challenge for two major productions released this year has been to recreate the White House — with the Washington original unlikely to be available. Starring Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler, Olympus Has Fallen (2013), sees the White House attacked and the president taken hostage.

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the 2009 production Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, set in Boston, and filmed in the city of Melbourne, Australia

Rather than use extensive CGI, the director Antoine Fuqua made the bold choice of recreating the Washington DC landmark, building a replica and staging the siege for real. “We physically take the White House down in this movie,” Fuqua says. “That was a big conversation. We knew if we were going to do it this way, we would have to come out blazing. It’s an event.” Production designer Derek Hill was well qualified for the job, having built the White House once before for Oliver Stone in W (2008). “I think the biggest moment for me on the entire shoot was walking on the set for the first time,” Fuqua says. “We actually built the White House in Louisiana. We built Pennsylvania Avenue. We built the water fountain. We built the whole front facade and the whole interior front lobby. I still can’t believe they built so much so fast.” Supervising location manager F Stanley Pearse says Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana, was the perfect location to double for Washington. “We were scouting for a place for the White House, and we found this property in Walker Drive, Bossier City, and it had a road in front of it that could look just like Pennsylvania Avenue,” he says. “When you see something it just clicks. You match it in your head.” Shreveport-Bossier has doubled for dozens of locations, from the North Pole to Senegal in Africa. Pam Glorioso, Bossier City film commissioner, says the place benefits from a great mixture of architectural looks. “We can pretty much become any city with a little bit of tweaking. Our downtown area has doubled for New York, New Jersey and Washington DC of course. In Battle Los Angeles (2011), we doubled for Lincoln Boulevard in LA.”

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///

FEATURE - SMOKE AND MIRRORS

There’s another assault on Washington’s most famous building in Roland Emmerich’s White House Down (2013) when a policeman (Channing Tatum) has to rescue the president (Jamie Foxx) from a paramilitary group. Emmerich headed for Montreal to stage the invasion of the White House by terrorists. “They recreated the White House, the pool, there were Marine One helicopters, three Beasts (the President’s limo), it was a huge incredible shoot,” Quebec film commissioner Hans Fraikin says. “Part of it was done on our purpose-built sound stages, and some of it was done in empty warehouses. And some of it was shot in a winter driving range, which they emptied out to build the White House itself.” Emmerich is no stranger to Montreal and Fraikin believes the director has played a significant role in Montreal’s growing reputation as a city that doubles for others. “Hollywood really started discovering Quebec as an outdoor setting when Roland Emmerich did The Day After Tomorrow (2004) here. At the beginning of the movie when they show these different places being the victim of ice and hailstorms — New Delhi, Tokyo, Paris, Scotland — they were all done here,” he says. Montreal was again doing it’s double act for the Bruce Willis thriller Red 2 (2013), with the city standing in for Paris, Washington DC, London, Moscow and Hong Kong. Likewise The Words (2012) took full advantage of Montreal’s ability to mimic other famous locations. The movie takes place in three different cities, each in different time periods: post-war Paris, 1970s Philadelphia and contemporary New York. “It was all shot in Montreal,” Fraikin says. “We are very fortunate that the two oldest cities in the whole of North America are in our Province. They were established in the 16th century and we have very strict heritage laws. None of the old buildings were ever destroyed. Quite the reverse.” The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008) chose Old Montreal in order to recreate 1940s Paris and Minsk, and also used the historic part of the city to shoot the moment where Benjamin Button is born. “The scene is set in old New Orleans, and well, even in New Orleans itself, they couldn’t find the right ‘old’ look, because it needed to be by the port,” Fraikin says.

The 2011 production Killer Elite, starring Jason Statham. The location is Dubai, but the film was shot in Williamstown, 10 minutes from Melbourne, Australia

Derek Hill “We actually built the White House in Louisiana. We built Pennsylvania Avenue. I still can’t believe they built so much so fast” The older architecture also featured extensively in Beastly (2012), a New York-based twist on Beauty And The Beast. The production filmed in Old Montreal and the suburb of Laval, with Mount Royal Park standing in for New York’s Central Park, and local diner Place Milton became Cafe Santiago for the movie. Fraikin

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says that because film and television is one of the strategic development sectors for the government, systems have been put in place to facilitate access to many historic locations. “Beastly was shot in a heritage building with 200-year-old wooden floors, but our crews are very well trained in working in preserved sites. They know how to protect the place,” he says. “It’s so ingrained in our production culture here that it’s second nature. And filmmakers love it of course because they have access to all this 17th and 18th century architecture.” With its distinctive Victorian architecture and grid system, another city that’s rapidly becoming a specialist in doubling is Glasgow. Fast & Furious 6 (2013) turned the Scottish city into London, in Cloud Atlas (2012) it doubled for San Francisco and London, and for the Brad Pitt movie World War Z (2013) Glasgow took on the role of Philadelphia. “Paramount Studios wanted to shoot the film in the UK and Europe, and the opening sequence in the book and the script was set in Phili,” location manager for World War Z, Michael Harm, says. “We needed to find a section of streets in the UK that could double for US streets. As it happens I had been to Glasgow many years before and remembered the grid layout and the wide streets which are uncommon in the UK. If you look at London, a broad road often has more narrow side streets unless you come to a large junction. Glasgow side streets are often as wide as the main road which echoes the style of US cities.” Harm says Glasgow’s architecture also fitted in with the look of buildings you might find in the US. “All we had to do was extend the buildings upwards in post production to make them taller,” he says. “We replaced all UK traffic signs and traffic lights with American ones. Also the lines on the roads had to painted out and repainted with US-style lines and colours. Glasgow is a long way from London to travel with 400 crew

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FEATURE - SMOKE AND MIRRORS

/// members and 400 US-bought cars for the traffic jam. But with all those

elements in situ Glasgow gives the biggest production value in the UK.” On the question of whether the ‘genuine’ location should always be first choice, Harm says there are numerous factors that come into play. “We are in the game of make-believe and so are used to looking at the possibilities of transforming a location into something completely different,” he says. “Naturally shooting at the real location would be so much easier but very often there are locations where bringing in a film crew is either not practical to get the control you need or the location has a no-filming policy.” Sometimes the art of doubling is more about removing the recognisable. Matt Carroll, director of production attraction and incentives at Screen NSW says that’s the first issue you have to deal with when shooting in Sydney. “We’ve got two great cultural icons,” he says. “The harbour bridge and the opera house, so it’s fine as long as you don’t see either of them, or you can block them out with CGI.” “Round the circular quay it’s quite busy because it’s a tourist attraction,” Carroll says. “But if you come back just one block, there are four blocks or more that are not busy at all, it’s just business. At weekends it’s empty, there are lots of high-rise buildings and it’s very easy to divert the traffic around it.” Carroll says Sydney’s large central park, while not a perfect double for New York’s Central Park, provides the opportunity to shoot down rows of US-style avenues because of the layout of the district. The Matrix (1999) successfully turned Sydney’s downtown district into Mega City, designed as an amalgam of major US cities. “The Matrix did spectacular things in the city. They flew choppers down the streets. That sequence where the chopper swings in to the side of the building was done here,” Carroll says. “There was a huge amount of shooting in the city. They went weekend after weekend in the main part of downtown. You’d have no idea looking at The Matrix that the thing was shot totally in Sydney.” As well as altering signage, Carroll says that Australians drive on the other side of the road to the US so the traffic needs to be reversed,

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For the Brad Pitt movie World War Z (2013, Marc Forster) Glasgow took on the role of Philadelphia

but there is a ready supply of left-hand-drive vehicles available. The downtown district was again transformed into a futuristic city for Superman Returns (2006) when it took on the role of Metropolis. “With big office buildings 40- or 50-storeys high, it looks like New York. We suspect Baz (Luhrmann) has used it very effectively in The Great Gatsby (2013) too,” Caroll says.

Hans Fraikin “The scene is set in old New Orleans, and well, even in New Orleans itself, they couldn’t find the right ‘old’ look” Melbourne, the second most populous city in Australia, also offers an impressive array of metropolitan settings and high-rise buildings. The city doubled for Boston in the sci-fi thriller Knowing (2009). Director Alex Proyas chose to base the production in the state capital of Victoria, praising the variety of accessible locations, competitive financial incentives and the region’s film-friendly nature. The movie brought Nicholas Cage back to Melbourne, the star having previously shot Ghost Rider (2007) in the city.

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The National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF) Is a statutory body mandated by parliament to spearhead the development of the South African film industry. The NFVF does this by funding the development and production of South African film content including documentaries, administering the certification process of co-production treaties, funding local film festivals and attendance by our filmmakers to international film festivals and markets and running various training programs for the film industry.

National Film and Video Foundation Tel: +27 11 483 0880 Fax: +27 11 483 0881 info@nfvf.co.za www.nfvf.co.za

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life on location - RESTLESS

The young Eva Delectorskaya (Hayley atwell) enjoys the sunshine in the wilds of Scotland, just outside Cape Town, South Africa

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life on location

Restless is a two-part TV mini-series set against the background of the British Secret Service operations in the US during World War II. It tells the story of Eva Delectorskaya, a young Russian recruited as a spy to help the allied war effort. Julian Newby met cast, crew and the series’ writer William Boyd, and learned how the South African countryside doubled for the Scottish moors

life on location - restless

Well it looks like Scotland… RESTLESS boasts a mass of A-list talent. Its writer is bestselling author William Boyd, who adapted his own novel of the same name to the small screen; director is British National Theatre associate director Ed Hall, son of Sir Peter Hall; and producer is Emmy awardwinner Hilary Bevan Jones of Endor Productions. It stars Hayley Atwell (Captain America, 2011), Rufus Sewell (Pillars Of The Earth, 2010; Zen, 2011), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey, 2010), Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia, 2011) and Michael Gambon (the Harry Potter series, 2004 -11). Distributed by Red Arrow International, the series shot in South Africa and the UK in the summer of 2012 and was seen at Christmas on BBC1 in the UK and on Sundance Channel in the US. That it shot in South Africa is interesting in itself, as nowhere does South Africa feature in the book or the television adaptation. The story does travel around the world however, and that was one of the issues Hall and Bevan Jones had to face very early in the proceedings. As actor Rufus Sewell, who plays the young spy Lucas Romer, put it: “How are you going to get somewhere that looks like New Mexico, that’s right next to somewhere that looks like New York, that’s right next to somewhere that looks like London?” “I actually thought, when I read it, that it wasn’t possible to do — and there is always a little bit of me that is drawn towards those projects. I always want to feel that something is not quite reachable because then somehow they’re worth it,” Hall says. “It doesn’t work on paper — you sort of scratch your head and think, how might this be possible? The short answer is you have to look at a lot of places, a lot of different countries. We looked at Spain, and oddly enough when we got there it snowed — in a place where it never snows! We

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had also thought about Belgium, and I recce’d extensively around the UK. Then we flew off to South Africa to look at the area around Cape Town and we had about five days there doing a sort of feasibility study. At that point we’d used up a considerable amount of budget but we still hadn’t found where we were going to film, so there was a lot of pressure from that point of view.” Hall says he constantly had the book in the back of his mind. Conscious of Boyd’s popularity as a writer he was aware of the millions of readers who would be watching just to make sure Restless was true to the original novel. “Which is always the curse of doing a loved book, because you think that you can only muck it up.” But as a seasoned screenwriter as well as a novelist, Boyd didn’t have such concerns. “It’s a question of changing mental gears because you can do absolutely anything with a novel,” Boyd says. “You can write 500 pages about one hour in somebody’s life in a novel if you want, but try filming that. In a way you can abandon the novel because the novel is always there, and people can go back and read it. What you have to do is think how you can make the best possible film out of this material.” So during the writing process Boyd wrote scenes that didn’t even feature in the novel, “all in the interests of making the best possible film, not in the interests of making a faithful version of a book I wrote”. He adds: “The two art forms are quite different. People think they are very closely related but they are not. Often you have to take ruthless decisions about what you take out of your novel and what you alter. But if you understand that as a film writer, then the process is very exciting — you create something new and you have the source there as well.”

Boyd’s original novel had its uses, both for cast and crew. Hayley Atwell says that as soon as she heard she’d got the part of Eva, she went straight to the book. “It filled in a lot of gaps, it tells you so much of what she’s going through which is not spoken in the film,” she says. “This story is about someone who gets increasingly paranoid, increasingly restless, and cannot trust anyone — and she is falling for someone who is limited in what he can offer her in terms of emotional support and comfort. Apart from that it’s quite a lonely part, so to have the book as your guide — it feels like someone is bearing witness to her as a character. It was a great help.” “We actually took the book and marked out anything that could tell us about props or locations, any tiny detail, because William’s forensic eye for detail is great. We had a great bible, so much information that we didn’t have to stand around wondering what things should look like or where they should be,” Hall says.

ed hall

The interiors were up in Cambridge because we just couldn’t navigate the Olympic headache

’’

“Once we’d got the first script and then we started to break down the script for budgeting and scheduling, that’s when it really hit me,” Bevan Jones says. “And in fact we did take a while to raise the right amount of money to make it and we were meant to be going into production over Christmas 2011 and we put a pause on it because I didn’t think we had the right budget to do it properly.” She adds: “We looked at Spain for New Mexico, we looked at all different options — we looked at Belgium. But rather than do it and not get what was in our heads, we put a delay on it until we’d

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life on location - RESTLESS

Hayley Atwell as the young Eva Delectorskaya in Restless

/// unlocked it.” During the five-day visit to South

Africa the locations problem began to solve itself. “I’d filmed in Johannesburg before, and in Uppington up in the desert, so I’d seen a little bit of the range of topography that South Africa can offer, and I had the thought that if we were on the coast, we might, just might, be able to find enough to start knitting the project together,” Hall says. “I realised that if we could find New York in Cape Town, and we could find a number of other interiors there as well as a Paris exterior, then we’d be getting somewhere. Then we started looking outside Cape Town for all the other bits and pieces — it took a long, long time, but we found Scotland near Cape Town, and we found a weird little thatched village about three hours drive outside the city, in the mountains, which ended up being the place in the story where the Dutch agent gets shot. We just took a little square of buildings that were all thatched and that gave us the border between Holland and Germany. It all just knitted itself together bit-by-bit from there.” Hall used the coastline outside Cape Town as Ostend in Belgium. “You have to see the sea in that bit of the story, and we found one spot where we could shoot that, and thank God when we did the weather was bad so you couldn’t see the mountains across the sea.” In the final edit South Africa serves as Holland, New York, Belgium and the hills and glens of Scotland — saving the vast cost of travel had cast and crew been required to visit all those places. There were other savings too: the cost of living in South Africa is considerably lower than that of the UK, and South African tax law makes special provision for film investment providing for tax deductions in respect of production and post-production

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costs incurred — although Hall says this was not a primary consideration. “I can’t pretend that was a big part of the decision-making process because as a filmmaker all I’m really interested in is how much I can get on the screen,” he says. “It’s more important that we had all the places. I had specific postcards in my head showing what each place should look like; I knew that when you cut to Hayley driving to Scotland in the car, you wanted a massive landscape. I had definite ideas about what the beginning of each chapter needed to do dramatically. But we did go to South Africa knowing that if we did find [all the locations] there the money would go further.”

hilary bevan jones:

Rather than do it and not get what was in our heads, we put a delay on it until we’d unlocked it

’’

“The place that we really needed, that we had to rewrite the script again for, was Paris, strangely,” Bevan Jones says. “We needed a little café overlooked by Eva’s office and it just wasn’t there [in South Africa] and we didn’t have the money to build it and we didn’t have the budget to go to Paris — or anywhere else. We probably could have found it in London but we had to spend as much as we could in South Africa in order to hit the tax break. So we phoned William and asked him if we could do it as a market instead and he said ‘Yes, easy’. So for the scene where Eva first sees Lucas Romer, we changed that to a Parisian market and it was absolutely fine. We built the market at Cape Town University.” There was filming back in the UK too — that

was crucial to the story — but it wasn’t easy because of the 2012 Olympics. “There were places we would have liked to have shot in London but we didn’t even recce them, knowing that the Olympics would likely get in the way,” Bevan Jones says. “The exterior of Romer’s house was around Regent’s Park, but that was just one day,” Hall says. “The interiors were up in Cambridge because we just couldn’t navigate the Olympic headache.” Hall would have liked to have shot more in the UK. “But that’s a whole other conversation about when [the UK] is going to organise itself and realise that there’s a multi-million pound industry quite happily going abroad because they don’t give an incentive to do it here. But don’t get me going on that subject, it makes me furious to think that I’m better off going to Belgium or Spain to shoot stuff — way better off. It’s good that we’re moving in the right direction but there’s a long way to go.” The “move in the right direction” Hall refers to is a new tax incentive, introduced in the UK on April 1 2013, for animation, high-end television and video games. “I think that will have an impact, but we need to monitor it quite carefully. We need to be asking production companies how it’s affecting them in the first year or so just so we can see empirically what is happening,” Hall says. “Because it’s got to be in everybody’s interest that more work comes back here. I have no desire to spend half my life abroad miles away from my family. I also feel that work that’s generated from the UK, written by people here and conceived here, should be made here, and there are so many people just not getting jobs basically. There’s a culture of going elsewhere because there are countries that make it ludicrously easy for you.” Back in South Africa and life was made easy by experienced local locations manager Peter Currey, and location-andproduction services company Moonlighting. “This was the first time I’d worked with Moonlighting and they were terrific,” Hall says, and has equal praise for Currey, “The location manager becomes very much a part of the creative process — of course they’re thinking logistically and trying to deliver a shoot but they’re also trying to get inside your head in terms of understanding what’s really important to you and where you might make compromises in order to get what you want in other areas, and all the time they’re juggling the councils and residents and police.” But even Currey was sceptical at the start having read Boyd’s book and seen the challenges posed by the number of locations the story required. “When we called wrap at the end of the shoot he said, ‘You know what? I didn’t think you’d do it. I thought it was impossible, 59 locations!’”

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Recent movies by Woody Allen have seen his passion for city stories extend outside of Manhattan, to Barcelona, London and Paris. His 2013 release, Blue Jasmine, is set MAINLY in San Francisco, taking him full-circle as he revisits the setting of his movies Take The Money And Run and Play It Again Sam. Julian Newby reports

Let’s go to San Francisco

On the streets of San Francisco: Cate Blanchett (left), Max Casella, Bobby Cannavale and Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine

WOODY Allen’s well-documented love of city life has defined his work in cinema. One of his classic films, Manhattan, is a eulogy to his home city, the setting for most of his cinema work. But he has recently looked further afield, equally comfortable in Europe and, most recently, on the north-west coast of America. While filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Allen’s famous curiosity caused him to change the script sometimes by the hour, as he discovered new places to film — testing the resolve of local authorities who regularly had to respond with speed to facilitate the occasional unscheduled shoot. But in the case of that film, director, crew and city authorities were ultimately in harmony, bonded by the mutual affection they had for the city. “The director was discovering the city almost at the same time he was shooting in it, so he was always proposing new locations,” Julia Goytisolo, director at the Barcelona – Catalunya Film Commission, says.

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“If, during the weekend, he had visited some monument, park or building that he had fallen in love with, on the Monday we would receive a new and unexpected shooting permit application. And that’s probably what made the film seem so fresh.” According to Woody Allen: “Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a film that is indelibly linked to its location. When I was writing the script, I wasn’t thinking of anything other than creating a story that had Barcelona as a character.” And the same goes for San Francisco. Back there more than 40 years after 1972’s Play It Again Sam, Allen says: “It’s a fantastic city with fantastic people.” The San Francisco Film Commission experienced similar challenges to those faced by Barcelona. “We were able to work with their production to meet their everchanging schedule,” the Commission’s executive director Susannah Greason Robbins says. “Very often, they would change shooting locations the day before,

and sometimes the day of. That means we needed to co-ordinate with the police department, the streets and traffic department and any other City agency that could be affected, as well as assisting the production with getting the parking needed to park vehicles. Our office worked with the production to make sure that everything went smoothly and that none of their filming needs were delayed.” San Francisco’s cityscape is defined by undulating hills, some so steep that the roads have stairways rather than sidewalks. Other familiar sights are its trolley and cable car transport systems; Fisherman’s Wharf; and the striking Golden Gate Bridge. “There is absolutely no question that San Francisco is one the most filmic cities in the world and although Blue Jasmine takes advantage of some of the more iconic spots in the city, we filmed more in many of the everyday locations around the city that may not be easily recognisable as San Francisco,” the film’s co-producer, Helen Robin, says. “He was all over the City,” Greason Robbins says, “shooting in areas which aren’t commonly used — like out in the Avenues in the Sunset district, in West Portal, the Mission, the Haight, and more.” Robin says she would be happy to work there again: “We worked with some really great crew,” she says. “The talent pool may be smaller than in some cities, but they are top-notch and I wish there was more film work in San Francisco for the crews.” Robin had high praise for the Commission too, particularly for walking through the city’s tax rebate with her team. The Scene In San Francisco Rebate Program rebates up to $600,000 per film or television episode. If the budget is less than $3m, 55% of the production must be shot in the city. If the budget is more than $3m, that figure rises to 65%. “We rebate any fees you pay to the City of San Francisco, including permit fees, up to four police officers per day, payroll tax, any street closure fees, any fees you pay to any City agency, as well as any stage, production office space or locations owned by the City,” Greason Robbins says. San Francisco has featured in many classic movies and TV series in recent decades, notably the Seventies TV series The Streets Of San Francisco. It’s up-and-down streets were put to good comic use in the Dudley Moore/ Goldie Hawn-starrer Foul Play (1978), and the city was key to the narrative progress of hits including Bullitt (1968), Dirty Harry (1971), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) — and crucially Gus Van Zandt’s Milk (2008), starring Sean Penn. Blue Jasmine is a 2013 release for writer/director Woody Allen. The cast includes Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Louis C K, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

life on location - woody allen

life on location

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