The economy has become global and so too has the film industry and its economics. Lensing locations are being sought out worldwide for creative and financial reasons. Many would cite a key turning point as being the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike against the U.S. advertising industry in 2000. While runaway production was a concern at that time, the problem was exponentially exacerbated by the protracted strike. Prior to the labor unrest, many American advertisers still regarded overseas sojourns as a bit of a boondoggle. But when the strike caused them to go outside the country for filming, they saw first-hand the cost-saving viability of the foreign option.
The impact of runaway production on the U.S. economy was profoundly negative in ’00 and for several ensuing years. But this in turn caused a shift in thinking and policy. The pendulum swung the other way to the realization on the part of many U.S. cities, states and regions that tax credits and other financial incentive programs are necessary to be competitive in the bid to attract the film business.
In recent years, assorted states in the U.S. have implemented or significantly sweetened incentive packages for producers, aggressively courting them, ad agencies and clients for spot and branded content production. Incentive programs originally devised for theatrical features and TV have been expanded to include commercials. There have also been programs designed specifically to woo spot biz, a prime example being the successful incentives initiative in the State of New York.
Even in the throes of a massive budget deficit, California recently enacted an incentives package for features and TV. However, the Golden State’s incentives program does not include commercials, much to the chagrin of the ad community. Film permit figures indicate that spot lensing has fallen off dramatically, for example, in Greater Los Angeles.
On the flip side, there are locales, municipalities, counties and countries that have benefited from substantial increases in their filming activity, both spurring and being spurred on by the building of industry infrastructure ranging from greater depth of crew talent and equipment resources to new soundstage and effects facility development.
Still, we are in the throes of a difficult yet gradually recovering global economy, with film commissions and location managers having to adapt as evidenced by the agenda at next month’s Cineposium (see separate story), the annual event bringing members of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) together to address issues, educate and learn from each other.
The AFCI is the official professional organization for film commissioners who assist film, television and video production throughout the world. It is a non-profit educational association whose members serve as city, county, state, regional, provincial or national film commissioners for their respective governmental jurisdictions. There are more than 300 AFCI-member film commissions worldwide, covering nearly every continent.
While a significant number of Cineposium sessions will address economy-related developments and issues, there are locales that have managed to do significant film business during financially challenging times. Meanwhile there are locales showing promise down the road as inquiries and feelers from producers and ad agencies start to emerge.
Among those with their finger on the location pulse are execs with international production services companies that are active in commercials and other forms of advertiser content. SHOOT surveyed members of this specialized community to get their responses to two questions:
1) Over the past year, what location(s) have been “hottest” in terms of TV/cinema spot and/or branded content activity and why? Please cite a significant project or projects that have
been lensed there during 2009?
2) Looking a bit further down the road, what location currently under the radar do you envision as eliciting genuine interest and ultimately business from the advertising industry? Please tell us the reasons as to why you feel this location or venue will grow into prominence.
Here’s a sampling of some of the feedback we received:
Lorenzo Benedick, executive producer, Vagabond Films
www.vagabondfilms.com
1) Chile and Argentina have been the hottest. Chile because of its access to various locations within 50 miles from the capital Santiago, can be compared to the Los Angeles area: mountains, sea, desert, millenary forests, glaciers, old and modern cities. Crews and equipment are getting better fast to keep up with the demand of international productions. Argentina because of it’s now established reputation is one of the most important production centers in the world where we can produce almost anything. In Santiago, Chile, we serviced a production for Neste Oil out of Finland, director Hans-Petter Moland, two shooting days; locations: on a ship in the harbor of Valparaiso (one-hour drive), stunts on top of a skyscraper in Santiago, helicopter shots on a glacier, a 45 minute flight from Santiago up the mountains. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, we serviced a production for Continental tires out of Germany, director Augusto de Fraga, two shooting nights; location: a large soccer stadium, 200 extras, 20 semi-professional soccer players, rain effects.
2) Uruguay is slowly being recognized as the next hot location but nobody has heard of it yet. Uruguay sounds like Paraguay but it is actually South America’s best kept secret. Uruguay is a only a 30-minute flight away from Buenos Aires, it’s the safest and most socially advanced democracy in the Southern cone: gay marriage has just been legalized. Small country, 3 million people, capital city Montevideo, 1 million people. South America fanciest beach resort (comparable to Cape Town), Punta del Este, a one-hour drive from Montevideo. Production costs 20 percent cheaper than Argentina and Chile. Crews and equipment as professional and modern as its neighboring countries. Locations: International city, old and modern, suburban, beaches, countryside, modern roads, modern architecture and design, parks, sports infrastructure. Company moves within the city don’t take more than 20 minutes, therefore saving productions one shooting day on average.
Karin Stuckenschmidt, executive producer, Film Planet
www.filmplanet.com
1) Both Argentina and Brazil continue to be “hot spots” for us at Film Planet. Many of our clients feel a strong comfort level shooting in Buenos Aires as the infrastructure is now so sophisticated, with its diverse casting and experienced crews, so familiar with our U.S. shooting standards.
Locations support both vast international looks as well as a broad range of generic U.S. architecture. Some of our recent 2009 work in Argentina includes a Gatorade campaign shot with Joe Pytka, requiring lots of great street casting, finding many gritty, urban scene locations and providing spontaneous crew flexibility to capture shots as the director discovered them. Buenos Aires provided a wonderful palette for filming a fast, documentary-like, highly athletic, reality driven, but naturally very cinematic campaign for a director well known for expecting perfection.
Park Pictures’ director/partner Lance Accord shot a five-spot package for Smirnoff with us in and around Sao Paulo. An ambitious schedule included six long days and nights shooting at a variety of locations. Lance created a huge foam pool on a rooftop with hundreds of kilos of found foam.
We filmed dozens of musicians in a in construction tunnel and at a forest location filled with exotic characters reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil performers in outrageous costume.
2) South America continues to attract commercial television clients. Feature and independent filmmakers, various branded content project producers and major reality shows. Brazil and Argentina still provide the best options for experienced crew, equipment and overall production standards. At the same time, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia are all locations being increasingly scouted for potential commercial projects.
Claudio Groppo, owner, FOCUS
www.focuscinevideo.tv
1) In my mind Argentina still remains one of the most sought out venues for location shooting because of its multi-environmental and architectural options to name a few. You can be anywhere in the world here in Argentina. This year we saw Francis Ford Coppola here shooting Tetro and Roland Joffe is here now to film Opus Dei. We are currently in production for an international beer spot to be aired worldwide, shooting in Buenos Aires in the studio and on location, and on location in the Andes mountains. The number of studio days for commercial production has soared as well due to the inherent economy of shooting in Latin America.
2) Of course we expect the level of activity to remain the same or higher for the coming summer months in Argentina, but there has been such an increased interest to be filming both in Colombia and Uruguay that we have opened affiliate offices there as well.
Lizzy Nash, executive producer, Walkabout Films
www.walkaboutfilms.com.au
1) A few particular iconic Australian locations that reveal the nation’s famous sprawling outback landscapes have been popularized this year thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s film, Australia, and the current Australian Tourism “Come Walkabout” campaign. These picturesque locations include the Kimberley region and Kununurra, both in Western Australia, as well as outback areas of the Northern Territory. These locales have not only been the “hottest” because of the harsh, hot climate in the Australian outback but because they exhibit the red sand and vast rural areas of bush land, which are unique to Australia. These scenic qualities are synonymous with Australia. The outback Australian locations provide a color palette and scope to cinematography that is unmatched by any other parts of the world.
2) One of Sydney’s hidden filming gems is Barangaroo. It is unique because it’s a 1.5 km’s (.93 mile) by 150 metres (492′) flat tarmac that maintains the beautiful backdrop of Sydney’s metropolitan hub. It’s perfect for filming anything that requires a vast area of uninhabited land, and also calls for a cityscape in the background. This location can be completely controlled and has not yet been used to its full potential. Another location in the heart of Sydney that boasts many qualities and optional looks for filming is Cockatoo Island. It’s a small island easily accessible by barge in the middle of Sydney Harbour with gritty industrial areas, warehouse spaces and old world features.
Harry Tracosas, president, Global Production Network (GPN)
www.globalproductionnetwork.com
1) Hottest? That is not a simple question to answer. GPN does not send clients to ‘hot’ areas per se…
When production companies come to GPN for research and bidding, the parameters of what is required are diverse and range from finding multiple “looks” within a single country, to bottom-line production and talent costs/buyouts, talent ethnicity requirements, meeting specific agricultural needs, i.e. wheat, barley, corn harvests… The menu of our clients’ needs, and thus GPN’s involvement, are not specific to “hottest” and are instead driven by where to best produce a project given the above specs. Examples of scattered regions where GPN has “connected” clients lately includes: Shanghai, China, for 316; Bucharest, Romania, for Dell; Amsterdam, The Netherlands, for Southern Comfort; Berlin, Germany, for Microsoft; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for YAZ; Istanbul, Turkey, for Turkcell; and Atlantic Coast Road, Norway, for Alfa Romeo.
2) “Where do we go once a region reaches production maturity or where do we go to expand the present production mindset?:… Most of the world, with regard to film production, has viable existing production capabilities…some greater than others and some with greater depth of crew and equipment. The issue, I believe, is the mindset of the advertiser and the producer as to look outside of their comfort zone for production solutions, and/or to entertain established regions not traditionally considered.
As for where else to consider producing spotwork, a few thoughts include; Slovenia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, the Ukraine, Romania, the Netherlands, Norway, Kuala Lumpur, Chile and Colombia.
Trent Walton, owner, Palma Pictures
www.palmapictures.es
1) This year we have had many requests for mountain roads. Brands are always looking for breathtaking backdrops for their new products–and the Tramuntana mountain range, found on the Northwest corner of Mallorca, an island just off the East coast of mainland Spain, boasts an abundance of cliff-hugging, winding tarmac roads, ideal for all types of car shoots.
One such request came from U.K. production company Rattling Stick. Selected to shoot the latest spot in the new Stella 4% campaign, they scoured the Mediterranean for a landscape that could pass for the French Riviera in the 1960s and found everything they needed here in Mallorca, both in terms of locations and production services, supplied by Palma Pictures.
Director Ringan Ledwidge shot for four days and took full advantage of our coastal roads, as well as several tunnels that were integral to the storyline. Period French vehicles were sourced on the island and a local art department converted an exclusive boutique hotel into a scene befitting the Riviera in its pomp for that all-important Stella 4% pouring shot.
2) I am hearing that the amount of time that advertising people spend out of the office is almost as frowned upon at the moment as “city bonuses.” Having your marketing department, creative department or producers filming on the other side of the world, often for weeks at a time, is a key issue of focus.
This is why clients are looking whenever possible to shoot closer to home and ideally in a single destination that can offer everything. This is where Palma can really help, from our ideally located base here in the heart of the Mediterranean.
Mallorca is an incredibly diverse island geographically, and in terms of period and look. Mountains, city and beach are all within one hour of each other and we regularly double up as a multitude of other European countries. Ownership of all our equipment, vehicles, 35 full-time employees and a 4,500 sqm studio complex allow us to be extremely price competitive. And we have some of the lowest talent buyouts in Europe.
