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.
Pinewood Studios has revealed a 15% increase in profits from film production in the UK in the six months to the end of September. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the biggest shoot at Pinewood and The Avengers: Age of Ultron was the largest at Shepperton.
Location filming for Angelina Jolie’s World War II biopic Unbroken and Dwayne Johnson’s earthquake drama San Andreas has helped boost Australia’s international production spending by 50% in 2013/14. Altogether, Australia hosted nine foreign features and two foreign TV dramas.
The British Film Commission has organised an inaugural UK Film and TV Week in Los Angeles. Screen agencies from across Britain are promoting the UK as a filming location to attract more productions on the scale of 24: Live Another Day and The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Iconic visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has officially opened its new London office. The firm is a division of Lucasfilm and was initially set up in the mid-70s to pioneer the innovative visual effects needed for the first Star Wars movie.
Disney has been paid tax credits of nearly GBP 170 million from location filming in the UK since the incentive was launched in 2007. Payments peaked last year at a little over GBP 50 million when Disney subsidiary Marvel filmed Thor: The Dark World largely in London.
Screen Australia will sign an agreement with the Korean Film Council to better facilitate co-productions between the two countries. Australian movie Kill Me Three Times, featuring British comedian Simon Pegg, is among the films showing at the Busan International Film Festival.
The Production Guild of Great Britain has announced a series of awards to be given to British production professionals at a Hertfordshire ceremony this weekend. Location Manager Sue Quinn will be recognised for her work on Tom Cruise’s acclaimed sci-fi drama Edge of Tomorrow.