Top Gear USA has filmed on the Buffalo Skyway road in western New York State. Made by BBC Worldwide Productions, scenes for the American version of the popular UK motoring show involved time trials for three amphibious vehicles.
The director of crime movie Filth has said that having film studio facilities in Scotland could help stimulate the production industry. Jon Baird made the movie – based on a novel by Irvine Welsh – on location in Scotland and also on mainland Europe.
Brooding crime dramas have put the Oresund region of Sweden and Denmark on the production map and have boosted local film tourism. While Wallander has been remade by the BBC, the US remake of hit Oresund murder mystery The Bridge has made its TV debut.
A Saudi Arabian filmmaker has made history as the first woman to direct a film on location in the country. Haifaa Al Mansour also wrote Wadjda, which tells the story of a Saudi girl who makes a plan to buy a bicycle she sees in a Riyadh shop window.
Originally from Germany, Anna joined National Trust for Scotland (NTS) as a freelance videographer before becoming the organisation’s Filming Manager in 2012. Her first phone call was from the producers of the James Bond franchise seeking to bring Skyfall to Glen Etive in the Highlands.
Dutch production company Wefilm has continued Wieden+Kennedy’s Dropped campaign for Heineken by filming on location in Cambodia. Greek dancer Stavros was dropped in the Cambodian jungle with a giant rubber-duck boat for company and challenged to find his way home.
A funding boost for creative industries training in Wales could prompt growth in the country’s specialist filming crew base. Creative Skillset Cymru’s Skills for the Digital Economy Programme has won additional funding of GBP500,000 to help launch new training courses over the next year.
[slideshow id=368]New historical miniseries The White Queen recreated medieval England by filming on location in Belgium with Company Pictures. An adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s novel series The Cousin’s War for BBC One, the drama is set during epic dynastic conflict the War of the Roses.