INDUSTRY LENS• IS EUROPE THE NEW HOLLYWOOD?

EUROPE… THE NEW HOLLYWOOD?

By Geoffrey Macnab

Jump back in time to Hollywood in the late 1950s. Concerns are mounting inside the major studios about the number of new films being shot far away in Europe.

“Labour unions contend that between 35 and 50 percent of feature films turned out by American producers are made abroad,” the New York Times reported on October 4 1959 as the volume of what were then called “runaway productions” began to soar. Hollywood epics such as Solomon And Sheba (1959, dir. King Vidor, DP Freddie Young OBE BSC), Ben-Hur (1959, dir. William Wyler, DP Robert L. Surtees ASC) and El Cid (1961, dir. Anthony Mann, DP Robert Krasker BSC ASC) were all filmed in Spain and Italy.

There were obvious reasons for the studios to set up camp in Rome and Madrid. Sound stages were cheaper to hire. And, if you wanted to stage chariot races or epic battles, armies could be commandeered and extras could be recruited in their thousands.

Flash forward to the summer of 2022 and you find what British Film Commissioner Adrian Wootton calls, “an unprecedented production boom.” Post-pandemic, the demand for content seems unquenchable. The US studios and the streamers, Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Apple to the fore, are fuelling a massive growth in production activity. In the process, Europe has been turning into the new Hollywood and is now arguably the centre of global filmmaking. France, Italy, Spain and the UK are all in the top 10 markets worldwide by feature film production between 2017 and 2021.

In spite of Covid, the UK has reported eye-watering statistics for inward investment production. The spend for film and high-end TV was at £5.64bn in 2021, as existing studios scrambled to expand their facilities, and plans were announced for massive new spaces. Whether it is Disney at Pinewood, Netflix and Amazon at Shepperton, or Warner Bros. at Leavesden, the major US entertainment companies have been ensconcing themselves in the UK on a long-term basis.

Across the Channel, on mainland Europe, an extraordinary surge in production levels has also been underway. In late May 2022, the legendary Cinecittà Studios in Rome (where Ben-Hur was shot) announced to the trade press that it was running at ”full occupancy” with a wide range of new film and TV series, everything from Angelina Joilie’s new feature Without Blood (DP Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC) to the latest art-house drama from Nanni Moretti, Il Sol Dell’Avvenire (DP Michele D’Attanasio), booked-in to shoot. A record 340 feature films were approved by the CNC in France in 2021, while German production spend reached a record high of €740mn in 2021 (source: European Audiovisual Laboratory).

Look around other major studios across Europe and it is a similar story. Long-established facilities, such as Bablesberg in Germany and Barrandov in the Czech Republic, remain very busy. Malta, famous for its water tanks, had hosted both the new Jurassic World: Dominion (dir. Colin Trevorrow, DP John Schwartzman ASC) movie and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon epic (DP Dariusz Wolksi ASC).

“The production boom is nothing that should have surprised us. It is all about the evolution of the internet,” suggests Pavlína Žipková, national film commissioner at the Czech Film Commission. “Simply put, the global increase in audiovisual production is due to the development of the internet as an entertainment distribution channel leading from the producer directly to the consumer.” As she points out, 4.42 billion people, or more than half of the globe, now use the internet, and are looking for filmed content to stream.

A hunger for audiovisual content has been fuelled yet further during the pandemic lockdowns.

“Our feeling is that there was a traffic jam in production over the last two years, due to Covid,” suggests Bas van Der Ree, the Netherlands film commissioner since 2014, who was earlier this year elected chair of the Association Of Film Commissioners International.

Even before Covid, though, the streamers had started to produce their own content, often in local languages. A production boom across Europe was already well underway.

Industry observers have long talked about the “arms race” between countries in Europe competing to attract inward investment from the US majors and streamers. There is a lot of soft money floating around. Almost every EU territory with the slightest interest in film offers financial incentives for international producers. EU state aid rules are intended to ensure a level playing field, but some countries have increased their rebates so that foreign producers can claim back 40% or more of their eligible “spend” wherever they are shooting. Regional film funds and film commissions have also sprung up to service foreign productions – and often to invest in them too.

Germany is one of the few major European filmmaking countries which doesn’t try to lure runaway production with strong fiscal incentives. Instead, the country offers modest rebates and funding through the

There is more co-operation than competition… because there is so much going on

Almost every EU territory offers financial incentives for international producers

German Federal Film Fund and German Motion Picture Fund – but these are small by comparison with what is available elsewhere.

Some within the German industry fret that the country is losing out to its neighbours as a result. Others, though, point to the chastening experience 20 years ago, when, around the year 2000, many German media companies went public on the short-lived Neuer Markt in Frankfurt – and Hollywood took advantage. There was a period when German money was financing a large number of US studio blockbusters, but without obvious benefit to the local industry. The German companies originally raised billions through their public offerings, which allowed investors generous tax write-offs, yet the system backfired disastrously – the companies posted massive losses and the Neuer Markt was soon closed down.

Now, even without tax breaks as bait, Germany is attracting significant amounts of international production. “Word has spread that you can get very good skilled personnel in Germany, and there are great places to shoot good films in Germany,” points-out leading German producer Peter Hartwig, whose recent credits include the multi-award winning Netflix show System Crasher (DP Yunus Roy Imer).

“A big part of production for the streamers is also produced by independent German production companies,” agrees Simone Baumann, managing director of promotional outfit German Films. “That’s why on, one hand, they are benefiting. They have more projects, more turnover.”

The downside is a looming skills shortage crisis. Equipment and studio space are both at a premium. In Germany, producers require a lead-time of at least a year on any new project to ensure they can find the facilities and personnel they need. Streamer production has become part of everyday life. The platforms’ overall production volume is large and gives many filmmakers long periods of work.

“That’s not a bad thing in itself either – people have good things to do and can pay their rent,” Hartwig observes. The other side of this coin, though, is that costs are shooting up. The streamers are putting talent on longterm contracts. That takes them away from independent producers.

“Recession, inflation, high energy and gasoline costs are having a significant impact on production costs. Fees are rising over-proportionally and supply is driving demand,” Hartwig adds.

Almost every part of Europe is facing the same squeeze on resources. The challenge facing the region is how to service all those big US studio and streamer projects, whilst also ensuring local filmmakers have the resources to make their movies and build their businesses too.

Striking this balance has always been a priority for Carlota Guerrero Bernaus, manager at Catalunya Film Commission. Like everywhere else, Catalonia has seen rates of production shoot up, but Catalan films themselves are now increasingly visible on the international stage. Director Carla Simon’s Alcarràs (DP Daniela Cajías AEC) won the Golden Bear in Berlin this year, while Albert Serra’s Pacifiction (DP Artur Tort) was one of the contenders for the Palme D’Or in Cannes.

The streamers like HBO, Amazon and Netflix have shot their big international projects, for example Game Of Thrones prequel House Of Dragons, in Catalonia but they’ve also invested in local projects. For example, Marçal Forés’ Through My Window (DP Elías M. Félix) filmed and produced in Catalonia, is currently one of the most popular non English language titles on Netflix.

“It was commissioned by Netflix Spain and has travelled incredibly well globally,” Guerrero Bernaus points out. “So far, we’ve managed to balance between local and international production. It’s true that at certain periods, it is a bit tight, but we’ve been lucky enough to be able to help people make it up through the ranks of the production hierarchy…I am not saying it is super-easy, but we are managing.”

As Europe adjusts to what is expected to be longterm production growth, new facilities are being built everywhere. Training initiatives are also being hatched. If enough is invested in research, talent development and better facilities now, public funders hope that local industries will become robust enough to survive when, and if, the inward investment dries-up. Major companies like LucasFilm and Warner Bros are prepared to invest in training programmes for the simple reason that it’s in their interest to do so.

When indie producers work for the streamers and studios, it’s generally on a gun-for-hire basis: they’re paid generously, but don’t own the underlining rights to the projects. That’s why many see it as vital to ensure that European producers don’t have to rely exclusively on their Hollywood patrons, but also make film and TV dramas on which they own the IP.

At the moment, as Europe begins to look more and more like the new Hollywood, there is obvious camaraderie between different filmmaking regions. There is enough work for everyone.

“I would say there is more cooperation than competition,” suggests Guerrero Bernau. “There is space for everyone because there is so much going on. We will see what happens if the production boom slows down and we need to fight for projects. Now that there is an abundance of projects, I would say that we are all very good friends!”

Opposite: (clockwise from top) – a greenscreen set-up at Studio Babelsberg, Berlin; Sir Ridley’ Scott’s Napoleon; Through My Window; and Cinecittà Studios, Rome This page: (clockwise from top) a street setting at Cinecittà Studios, Rome; Alcarràs; Pacifiction; two views of Studio Babelsberg, Berlin