North Carolina’s production industry has reiterated the importance of the state’s generous filming incentives. The 25% refundable tax credit has attracted productions like the Stephen King miniseries Under the Dome, but the incentive is set to expire at the end of 2014.
A new Chinese-language TV drama will film on location in Seattle in Washington State. Washington Filmworks is co-producing with China’s DMG Entertainment and the so-far untitled show will chart the lives of Chinese nationals dealing with life in modern America.
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.
Bourne Woods in Surrey in the UK has had its location filming regulations relaxed to give productions more access. The woods memorably doubled for a Germanic battlefield in the opening sequence of Gladiator in 1999 and recently appeared in a battle sequence in Thor: The Dark World.
Epic new feature Gods of Egypt will film on location in Australia in either Sydney or Melbourne, depending which offers the best filming incentive. The production will star 300 veteran Gerard Butler and tell the story of the murderous and vengeful activities of the ancient Egyptian deities.
Marvel’s action sequel Thor: The Dark World filmed on location in and around London and was based at Pinewood Shepperton Studios. Stage work involved building the grandiose sets of Thor’s home Asgard, while the production focused on the logistics of filming central London.
Production on Hugh Jackman’s X-Men spin-off The Wolverine helped boost Australia’s international filming figures for 2012/13 after two years with no big-budget foreign shoots. However, the high Australian dollar prompted a slump in post-production work for the year.
North Carolina’s production industry is fighting to have the state’s filming incentive programme extended beyond the end of 2014. The region is a thriving production hub, but conservative politicians are spearheading a move to direct the incentive funds to other parts of the economy.