A new TV spy drama is filming in Long Beach in eastern New York this weekend, doubling the location for the streets of Washington, DC. Shooting will include special effects, stunt work and vehicle collisions.
New big-budget science-fiction TV drama Defiance filmed on location in Ontario, doubling it for the American mid-West. Set 40 years in the future, the story focuses on a lawman running a dystopian St Louis – renamed 'Defiance' – against a backdrop of alien invasion.
A new location filming incentive programme put forward for Arizona faces stiff opposition locally. The state’s previous incentive expired in 2010 and wasn’t renewed so a Tucson senator is proposing a new 20% rebate with a USD70 million annual fund to attract projects like The Lone Ranger.
Australia has delayed a rise in its Location Offset and has instead launched a new filming incentive worth AUD20 million. Specific details are scarce but the new fund is designed to boost international interest in Australia as a filming location.
The BBC’s Top Gear team is filming a supersonic car sequence this week on location in New Zealand. Ninety Mile Beach lies north-west of Auckland on the country’s North Island and the production team will be in the area for six days.
Western New York has lost the chance to host Kevin Costner’s new baseball feature Draft Day because Ohio offered better location filming incentives. Despite intense negotiations in New York, the production will make script changes and save about USD3.5 million filming in Cleveland.
The Namibia Film Commission has disputed claims that Mad Max: Fury Road damaged desert landscapes during its shoot last year. George Miller’s sequel filmed on location in the Namib Desert, but an environmental report accuses the production of causing permanent damage.
Sam Raimi has praised the Michigan film industry ahead of the release of his epic new movie Oz the Great and Powerful. The film shot at the former Raleigh Michigan Studios – now called the Michigan Motion Picture Studios - and collected a filming tax rebate of around USD40 million.