'Hong Kong Day' will promote location filming in Hong Kong through the American Film Market (AFM) in Los Angeles. Screenings and a seminar will encourage more productions like Michael Bay’s Transformers sequel to shoot in the Chinese city.
Location professionals from TV productions set on the East Coast but filmed in Los Angeles took the big prizes at this year’s California On Location Awards (COLAs), held at the weekend. Work on The Hangover III and Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra was also recognised.
Channel 4’s stylised TV drama Utopia has begun filming its second series on location in the city of York in northern England. The dark miniseries involves a group of disparate characters, a mysterious comic book that predicts world disasters, and a sinister criminal organisation.
A casting call for the new Star Wars film has stated that while Pinewood Studios in London will be the main filming location, shooting is also scheduled for New Mexico and Los Angeles. The movie is reportedly set for a 21 January 2014 start date.
A retrofitted studio in Scotland being used for major TV miniseries Outlander is intended for use as a long-term filming facility once the drama wraps. Scotland lacks a purpose-built studio so the Outlander production team converted a derelict warehouse in Cumbernauld near Glasgow.
Taipei has pledged to offer greater filming support for productions shooting in the Taiwanese capital, as French filmmaker Luc Besson has been filming with US star Scarlett Johansson. The pledge comes on the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Taipei Film Commission.
Angelina Jolie has been directing at sea in Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia, for World War II drama Unbroken. The film tells the true story of downed US airman Louis Zamperini, who survived weeks adrift in the Pacific in 1943 before being captured by the Japanese.
Robert De Niro’s new feature comedy Last Vegas largely recreated the city of Las Vegas on location in Atlanta, drawn by Georgia’s generous filming incentives. Spaces from Las Vegas’ luxury Aria hotel were recreated in Atlanta under the watchful eye of the brand’s marketing team.