The UK’s creative industries have grown for a fourth year to reach a value of nearly GBP 77 billion. Government figures apply to 2013 but the production industry is likely to grow for 2014 when the UK hosted The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Clint Eastwood’s true-life drama American Sniper helped boost location filming days in Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County, California. In 2014 the city posted year-on-year increases in both the number of filming permits issued and the number of overall filming days.
North Carolina has downgraded its filming incentive to a grant programme worth USD 10 million a year. Drama series Under the Dome has claimed half the fund for this year, but a regional film commission says production interest in the area is declining.
Marion Cotillard co-directed short film Enter the Game for Dior and Bliss Inc in Meyreuil in the south of France, a location intended to evoke Los Angeles. Cotillard also stars as a woman enjoying the tranquil surrounds of her hillside home and pool.
A spinoff series from hit zombie drama The Walking Dead could become the first high-end TV production to shoot in California using a boosted filming incentive. California has suffered a serious runaway production problem in recent years, partly because of a limited incentive.
Clint Eastwood and star/producer Bradley Cooper recreated Middle Eastern settings at California movie ranches and in Morocco for their true-life biopic American Sniper. The drama tells the story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who became the deadliest sniper in US history.
The Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean want to secure more Bollywood film shoots with the launch of a new direct flight route to Mumbai. Dawn flights by Air Seychelles will leave Mumbai for the archipelago once mid-week and twice at the weekend.
The new James Bond movie, officially named today by director Sam Mendes as Spectre, will film on location in London, Morocco, Rome, Mexico City and the Alps. Shooting will last seven months and will start next week from its Pinewood Studios base.