The Michigan production industry has been fighting this week to keep the state’s filming incentives. Superhero movie Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice shot in Detroit last year but conservative politicians argue the incentive is ultimately too draining on state resources.
New Mexico is the most popular US filming location for desert landscapes, but an experienced Location Manager has reiterated the importance of its filming incentives. Rebecca ‘Puck’ Stair has worked on movies including Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger and action drama 2 Guns.
Singapore is getting a profile boost with the upcoming action sequel Hitman: Agent 47, which has launched a trailer ahead of it summer release. Based on the popular videogame franchise, the new movie was filmed partly on location in Singapore and at the island state’s Infinite Studios.
Hong Kong and Korea have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to boost creative collaborations. Both regions are also building their international appeal, with Hong Kong having hosted the Transformers franchise and The Avengers: Age of Ultron filmed partly in Seoul.
New Chinese movie Hollywood Adventures has become the largest Chinese-language film to shoot on location in Southern California. The production features three Chinese stars but has a US director and co-stars, and is mostly being crewed by Americans.
Mandi Dillin has worked on many of the biggest movies of recent years, including Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and now Interstellar for Christopher Nolan. She talks to The Location Guide about US production centres and her hopes for California’s film industry.
Global exports of UK television productions to China rose by a staggering 40% in 2013/14, but the US remains the single biggest international market for UK shows. The figures, published by the independent producers’ trade association Pact, show that overall TV exports rose by 5% in 2013/14.
China is planning to launch an annual film grant programme worth about USD 163 million for movies that shoot at the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis. Plans for the USD 8.2 billion studio on China’s east coast were announced by the Wanda Group last year.