The California Film Commission has called for “a bigger pot of funds” for the state filming incentive. Commission head Amy Lemisch was speaking at a State of the Industry Conference at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
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.
Propeller Film shot on location in New York with Kevin Spacey for a series of commercials for Poland-based Bank Zachodni. Faced with a tight filming schedule, New York service company MediaCombo Productions had a challenge on its hands securing locations and studio space.
Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles, is under continuing pressure to appoint a so-called ‘film czar’, whose job it will be to boost the city’s production industry. Los Angeles has a problem with runaway productions and the film czar will have the unenviable task of reversing the trend.
Sony has announced it will be opening a new Digital Motion Picture Centre at Pinewood Studios near London in the next few weeks. The centre will offer training resources for Sony’s latest cameras and digital technologies through structured courses and informal discussions.
Filmmaker JJ Abrams has revealed he would have preferred to film the new Star Wars movie on location in California, rather than in the UK. Speaking at the Produced By Conference in Los Angeles, Abrams spoke of the inconvenience of moving his family to the UK for the shoot.
Reliable and generous location filming incentives in the UK helped secure some of this summer’s biggest movies over California and the wider US. Brad Pitt’s zombie drama World War Z and action sequel Fast & Furious 6 are among this year’s big UK-filmed summer movies.
Director JJ Abrams and production company Lucasfilm will shoot the new Star Wars movie on location in the UK. The news marks a homecoming for the sci-fi franchise that was based at Elstree Studios outside London when George Lucas started work on the first film in the mid-70s.