This
week we have the second of our international Production Reports
compiled by Hal Levy INDIA UK's Ruby Films/Working Title and DreanWorks
will co-produce "The Siege of Krishnapur".
Shooting on the $20 million
production starts at year's end with Daniel Kleinmann directing.
Alison Owen produces; Shekhar Kapur is executive producer. IRELAND
The industry is still waiting for the government's Film Industry
Review Group's report. It was due six months ago… If you're planning
to film in Ireland, try October to January because there's an extra
10% added to money available to producers. It's the government's
attempt to attract more filming in the off-season… Continuing Ireland's
entry into the screen commission world, the Kerry Screen Commission
has been set up. The Kerry Screen Commission will is will provide
comprehensive information about access, accommodation, locations,
personnel and facilities.
Kerry was in the film
business as far back as 1910 when 70 full-length silent movies were
shot there for KLM, a Los Angeles based company. David Lean shot
'Ryan's Daughter' in the Dingle Peninsula and John Boorman's 'Excaliber'
was on location here. And Tom Cruise's "Far & Away" was partially
shot in Kerry.www.iftn.ie/kerry-screen-com…
Saban International has cancelled the next season of "The Mystic
Knights of Tir na nOg". While there was talk about disappointment
in the Section 35/481 financial incentives, the reason being given
is that Saban also was not pleased with the ratings of the first
season… "Though the Sky May Fall" is filming in Dublin. Directed
by John McKenzie, film stars Joan Allen Barry Levinson is expected
to shoot "An Everlasting Piece" in the southern part of the country
before the end of the year… Established in 1996, the Ireland Film
and Television Net (IFTN) is an information service with comprehensive
on-line directories and specialist news and information services
for and about the film, television and music industries... (www.iftn.ie)
ISLE OF MAN The Lockhouse
company is to start raising money for a new studio that will include
sound stage, editing and recording studios. Expected cost is under
$2 million, with some government funding expected… In a strange
twist of filming locations, "Comfort of the Storm", a story based
in Ireland, will be shot here by Pegasus Pictures, an Icelandic
company… Scheduled to shoot here and Scotland is "Younger Than Springtime"
with Stephen Whitaker directing. Co-producing are The Isle of Man
Film Commission, the Glasgow Film Fund and the Scottish Lottery…
Portman Entertainment has an early summer start date for "Paranoia".
Shooting will continue in London… UK's Projector Productions and
Channel Four have set August to for "Cinderella". Shooting will
continue in Wales. Projector also has on its schedule "Two Men Went
To War" for an October start here. John Henderson will direct…Midsummer
Films and The Isle of Man Film Commission will co-produce "Relative
Values" starting in July. Eric Styles directs for producer Christopher
Milburn and Julie Andrews stars.
ISRAEL Ehud Barak, Israel's
newly named prime minister, is reportedly supportive of the arts
and expected to increase state support for those establishments
that rely on state support including the film industry. He also
intends to encourage commercial corporations to support the arts.
ITALY The state will
fund fewer pictures in the future, but will up the money available
to those it backs. Italian subsidy funds are now available through
most banks, with low interest loans covering up to 70% of the budget,
payable within five years. Maximum amount is $4.5 million. Priority
is given to local productions as well as the 10 countries that have
co-production agreements with Italy… "Vipera", a $3.5 million production
will star Harvey Keitel and Giancarlo Giannini. Producer is Elide
Melli with Sergio Citti directing… Merchant Ivory will shoot "The
Golden Bowel" this fall here and in the UK… Starting in Milan this
month is "Princesa" an Italian/German/French/UK co-production… Shooting
in Trieste is "Nora", a German/Irish co-production. Filming will
continue in Germany and Ireland. Pat Murphy directs.
JAPAN Recorded Picture
Company and Office Kitano have set a November start date for "Brother".
The $10 million feature shoots in Tokyo and Los Angeles.
MALTA Dino De Laurentiis'
"U-571" currently shooting in Malta moves to Italy when finished
shooting here. Jonathan Mostow directs the $90 million English-language
film.
PERU Spain's Andres Santana
and Imanol Uribe will produce "Wiracocha" in Peru early next year.
Costume film has an $8 million budget.
PHILIPPINES BBC Films'
"The Tesseract" is to shoot in Manila. Jane Tranter is executive
producer and Stephen Daldry directs.
PUERTO RICO Currently
shooting here is "Under Suspicion", a $20 million film co-produced
by Morgan Freeman's Revelations Entertainment and France's TF1 International.
SCOTLAND Details of the
Scottish Arts Council Film Production Committee low budget film
financing program are to be announced at August's Edinburgh Film
Festival… Norway's Norsk Film and Scotland's Freeway are co-predicting
"Aberdeen" in locations around Glasgow. Hans Petter Moland directs
with a budget of $6.5 million… Elemental Films is shooting "One
Life Stand" in Glasgow. Karen M. Smyth produces and May Miles Thomas
is writer/director... Gillian Anderson (''The X-Files) stars in
an adaptation of Edith Wharton's turn-of-the-century novel `"The
House of Mirth,'' shooting this summer in Scotland and South France.
SOUTH AFRICA Next spring
has been set as start date of "Garden of Eden". The UK/Spanish $12
million production is based on a novel by Ernest Hemingway. Bob
Mahoney directs with additional filming in France and Spain.
SOUTH KOREA Ilshin Investment
Company, with funds of some $140 million, will invest in foreign
co-productions. Ilshin, in addition to financing Korean production
and distribution, backed two films produced by Interlight Pictures…
Sambu Finance, a venture capital company, says it will invest $8
million this year in feature production, with a five-year total
of $25 million.
SPAIN Earlier this year,
the Spanish Congress ordered all television stations to invest 5%
of their annual income in European film and television production
and acquisition. It is estimated this will put $70 million into
industry pockets… The UK's Recorded Picture Company and Spain's
Kanzaman SA are shooting "Sexy Beast" in Spain and England. Jonathan
Glazer directs… Newly formed Morena Films, headed by Juan Gordon,
expects to produce three English-language films annually with budgets
up to $10 million each. Also planned are Spanish-language films
of up to $4 million… LolaFilms has set up an English subsidiary,
LolaFilms UK, as it intends to move aggressively into the English-language
market.
SWEDEN The Swedish Film
Institute expects their annual budget to be increased to $48 million.
The government will put in $25 million and distributors and exhibitors
will ante up $12 million each. State and private television together
with pay-tv companies will make up the difference.
SWITZERLAND Where else
would one shoot Indian musical films? In the last year at least
one Indian film each month was shooting in Switzerland using the
Alps as background. Wonder what happened to the Himalayas?
TURKEY Bruce Beresford
is to direct "Ataturk" next year in Turkey. The $35 million production
will be produced by UK's IAC Film.
VENEZUELA There is a
new government and changes are slowly taking place in the cultural
area. At the Cinematography National Centre (CNAC) Dina Diaz is
acting president until a new appointment is made to the office…
The French film "The French Son" is shooting in the Venezuelan jungles.
Gerard Luzier is directing with French stars in lead roles... "Bolivar,
the Liberator", produced by Edgard Meinhart-Iturbe and directed
by Alan Bridges, is expected to start production here shortly. Hal
Levy Please use halevy@bigfoot.com on all replies
