The Elstree Studios exterior set for BBC soap EastEnders is to be expanded. Filming has been based at the north-west London studio for almost 30 years and a temporary set will allow shooting to continue while the new facility is upgraded and modernised to be ready for 2018.
Sonny London took a prosthetic ogre to the Greek island of Crete to film a new spot for Thomson holidays. Simon the Ogre features a family man whose office existence has turned him into a literal ogre, but the fun of a Thomson holiday helps him relax and rediscover himself.
Developers in Manchester in northern England are preparing to launch a new filming facility aimed at drama productions. The Space Project is scheduled to open in May 2014 and will offer five purpose-built studio spaces, as well as workshop, dressing and make-up facilities.
London-based visual effects company Cinesite VFX has announced it will open a new office in Montreal, Quebec. The company – whose credits include Tom Cruise’s upcoming sci-fi Edge of Tomorrow – will be spending CAD6.7 million with the help of an interest-free provincial government loan.
An online portfolio is showcasing filming locations in Ireland managed by the Coillte estate. Coillte is a state-sponsored organisation that manages around 450,000 hectares of mostly forest and woodland across the country. The showcase could help attract more productions on the scale of Vikings.
Production company MJZ filmed on location in South Africa with members of Congo’s stylish Sapeur community for a new piece for Guinness. The spot shows Congolese Sapeurs getting together in smart and flamboyant suits in a style showdown in their free time.
New spy thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit used the UK’s generous filming incentives and doubled parts of London and Liverpool for Russia. The film is the latest reboot of the franchise featuring CIA agent Jack Ryan, who first appeared nearly 25 years ago in The Hunt for Red October.
Kiefer Sutherland’s new Jack Bauer action miniseries 24: Live Another Day will start filming on location in London in the next few weeks and will debut only a few months later in the spring. The production will be based at a warehouse space in the city while it films on location.