A new report has indicated that the UK’s major studios may need to expand if they’re to stay globally competitive. The study for Pinewood Studios and Creative England suggests Britain will need to continue developing state-of-the-art facilities as international production demands grow.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow recreated Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistan compound on location in Jordan for her terrorism thriller Zero Dark Thirty. The film details the ten-year hunt for the al-Qaeda leader and dramatises the final 2011 special forces assault on his Abbottabad hideout.
Park Pictures headed to Milan, Lake Como and the French Alps in a spot for the next-generation Range Rover. Beginning in Milan, a suave gentleman takes the vehicle out of the city for a spin through winding mountain roads and around Lake Como.
Filmmaker Wes Anderson is shooting his new feature The Grand Budapest Hotel on location in Germany. The cast includes Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray, who all worked with the director on the Rhode Island shoot for Moonrise Kingdom.
India plans to capitalise on shoot locations from Ang Lee’s critically-acclaimed feature Life of Pi to boost regional film tourism. The movie’s story starts in a zoo in India before following Pi’s struggle to survive while adrift in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengali tiger for company.
Pinewood Studios has signed an agreement to set up a new centre of excellence that will provide young people with specialist training in the screen industries. Courses will focus on visual effects, videogames and support services.
London’s Underground train network remains a popular filming location in the year of its 150th anniversary. A dedicated Film Office liaises between Location Managers and specific stations, and the network hosts around a dozen features every 12 months, plus numerous smaller projects.
Dublin-based Maxfilms has shot a new spot for Bank of Ireland on location in a remote lighthouse in County Donegal. The commercial shows an operator changing the lighthouse bulb on a stormy night as a visual metaphor for the bank’s commitment to its customers.