New Zealand and China have formed a Memorandum of Understanding. This means more Chinese film productions will be made in Auckland. The agreement was reached after meetings between a delegation of Auckland filmmakers and the China Film Association.
A series of filming incentives are expected to be put forward to the Thai government by the Thailand Film Office sometime next week, reports the Bangkok Post. The proposition is expected to include an income tax exemption for foreign actors, a production VAT refund and a tax credit of up to 25% for foreign film productions.
American cable service provider Comcast has filmed its latest commercial in New Zealand after a severe snowstorm struck Prague, where it originally intended to shoot. Field shows an army of Comcast employees carrying high-definition TVs on a grassy field. They face off against the opposing army of an anonymous satellite provider.
A new Italian-language film about the life of Mary Magdalene has doubled Tunisia for Palestine. Io Sono Con Te (The English title will be Let It Be) considered filming in Morocco but eventually settled on Tunisia. This was due to cost concerns and the proximity to the Italian mainland. Also, Tunisia offers very similar landscapes to Palestine and the wider Middle East and regularly doubles for countries such as Iraq and Syria.
The isolationist political regime of the last 50 years has made Cuba, the largest island of the Antilles, a timewarp of retro styling. As advertisers and filmmakers are finding, it’s also
Major vehicle manufacturer VW has filmed on location in India for a photo shoot advertising its Polo car. The campaign will run alongside its television commercials that doubled South Africa for India. The photo shoot production shot in several locations throughout the country, including Rajasthan, Jim Corbett National Park, Pune and Lonavala, both in western India.
American house-moving firm Mayflower has shot its latest commercial on location in Los Angeles using a 20-foot-tall marionette called Audrey. Big Move shows Audrey walking slowly across an American landscape, openly operated by a team of puppeteers. She is followed by a removals bus and eventually settles on a recliner outside her new suburban home.
Lori Balton’s address book is a who’s who of Hollywood production designers, producers, and directors. Amongst others she has location scouted for Spielberg, Scorsese, Bay,