Two Oceans Film Company of Singapore shot on location at the Kawarau Bungy Centre in Queenstown, New Zealand, with a specially rigged BlackMagic camera for a new Visa digital campaign. Kawarau is distinctive for being the world’s first commercial bungy jump site.
Australia has offered Disney a filming incentive payment of a little over AUD 20 million in a bid to lure Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The studio reportedly plans to shoot the fifth film in the adventure franchise next year but the filming location has not yet been confirmed.
A new series of children’s superhero drama Power Rangers will return to film on location in Auckland and is set to boost the country’s TV industry. Power Rangers Dino Charge will be the highest-profile international TV series to film in New Zealand since the incentive programme was increased.
A studio executive at Warner Bros has advocated a larger fund for the filming incentive programme in Texas. Michael Walbrecht is Entertainment Vice President at the studio and said making more money available would help boost the state’s profile in the US and attract larger shoots.
Netflix will film its new crime miniseries Marseille entirely on location in France. The drama will tell the story of a long-serving Mayor fighting a vicious re-election campaign in a city ruled by drug lords and corruption. Paris-based Federation Entertainment will produce.
California will launch a reformed filming incentive programme with an annual fund of USD 330 million that will come into effect for the 2016 fiscal year. The fund will still be less than in New York, but the hope is that California’s locations and production infrastructure will give the West Coast the edge.
Four separate film companies in Thailand have come together to form a new studio that aims to boost the country’s production industry and expand its influence in China. Transformation Film has USD5.5 million in registered capital and plans to release up to six movies a year.
Nick Love’s 2012 British crime drama The Sweeney will be remade on location in Paris as The Squad with Jean Reno. The original was based on the classic British TV drama of the same name and starred Ray Winstone and Ben Drew. Filming for the remake is scheduled for October this year.