The Mayor of Los Angeles has appointed a film liaison officer to help make the city more film-friendly. California’s filming incentive programme gets a major boost this summer and city departments in Los Angeles will also get more funding to help them increase filming services.
Filmmaker Michael Bay is set to shoot the true-life rescue drama 13 Hours on location in Morocco and Malta. Set in the Libyan city of Benghazi, the film will tell the story of the 2012 terror attack on the city’s US compound and the Special Forces mission to rescue the staff.
New drama series Dig launches in the US tonight. Set in Jerusalem, the production started filming the city for real last summer before renewed violence flared between Israel and Gaza and producers decided to relocate to Croatia, with studio work shot in New Mexico.
The BBC has started filming in London for a new two-part special of the hit crime thriller Luther, while its period drama The Dresser is also shooting in the city. Idris Elba returns to the role of DCI John Luther, while The Dresser stars Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen.
A second season of From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series, created by Robert Rodriguez, has started filming on location in Austin, Texas. The drama is based on the 1996 vampire movie of the same name that Rodriguez also directed, and which helped launch George Clooney’s movie career.
The UK and China have ratified a film co-production deal at the Great Festival of Creativity in Hong Kong. Official co-productions will get access to the UK’s filming incentives, while the deal also means that the UK industry will get better access to the lucrative Chinese market.
A three-day familiarisation (fam) trip organised by screen agency Film London is to showcase the UK’s animation industry to a US delegation. The UK offers a production tax credit of up to 25% on eligible animation work.
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 5 has helped drive a six-fold rise in foreign production spending in Morocco. Nearly 40 international shoots filmed in the North African country in 2014, spending USD 120 million – more than the last five years combined.