Saudi Arabia and Indonesia call for immediate end to Gaza catastrophe Private sector companies sign pacts worth $27 billion during visit of President Prabowo    Prince Faisal and Marco Rubio discuss over phone regional situation    Saudi Arabia and Indonesia agree to bolster bilateral ties Crown Prince and President Subianto chair first meeting of Saudi-Indonesian Supreme Coordination Council    Number of Sakani platform users exceeds 4.6 million by first half of 2025    International visitors spend nearly SR50 billion in Saudi Arabia during 1Q 2025    Saudi Arabia condemns calls for imposing Israeli sovereignty over occupied West Bank    Lacazette joins NEOM SC as Saudi Pro League newcomers boost attack with French star    Al Hilal sign Abderrazak Hamdallah on loan for Club World Cup push    Trump says Israel has agreed on terms for 60-day ceasefire in Gaza    New evidence suggests Russian forces shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243    Iran's president halts cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog, reports say    Commerce Ministry recalls over 88,000 Anker portable chargers over fire risk    Elm, One sign MoU to enhance strategic partnership and support local content in communications and marketing sector    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Saudi FM receives message from Iranian counterpart    Inzaghi hails 'historic' Al Hilal win over Man City: We climbed a mountain with no oxygen    Michelin Guide launches in Saudi Arabia with phased rollout in 2025    Al Hilal stun Manchester City in seven-goal thriller to reach Club World Cup quarterfinals    'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on    Historic Jeddah's visual identity re-imagined through global art installations at Al-Arbaeen Lagoon    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Hollywood's big summer movies were all filmed elsewhere
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 23 - 05 - 2017

This summer's biggest-budget films have everything moviegoers have come to expect from Hollywood blockbusters: Superheroes, pirates, space aliens. But in the truest sense of the term, none of them is a Hollywood movie.
Despite a major effort by Los Angeles over the last two years to lure film production back to where it started, producers continue to make big-budget movies elsewhere, saying they get better tax breaks and subsidies outside of Hollywood.
As a result, the summer's movies come from all over the globe. Warner Bros. filmed "Wonder Woman" and "King Arthur" in Britain, where the Time Warner Inc studio owns a large production space. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's movie studio chose Australia for "Alien: Covenant." Walt Disney Co's Marvel Studios rolled its cameras in Georgia for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," one of six superhero movies it has filmed near Atlanta.
"The support we get in Georgia is tremendous," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said in an interview. "We're certainly doing many of our biggest films there well through this year and into next year."
Twenty-five years ago, most big-budget films were filmed primarily in Los Angeles. Since then, to lure production, locations across the United States and around the globe have begun offering tax credits or rebates of up to 40 percent of local production spending, a sizable savings on action films that cost up to $250 million to make.
Thirty-two US states and dozens of foreign countries now offer tax credits or rebates, plus other benefits such as waivers of permit fees.Along with subsidies, the small, former Soviet country of Georgia offers another perk to filmmakers.
"We have many derelict, abandoned small villages or factories. They are mostly state-owned still, and you can easily just blow (them) up," said Sophio Bendiashvili, head of the country's film rebate program, at a conference last month hosted by the Association of Film Commissioners International.
In most cases, neither studios nor the filming locations will disclose specific details of subsidies granted, but executives acknowledge that they are a key factor in deciding where to film.
The economic value of subsidies for the locations offering them remains under debate. Proponents argue they attract jobs and spending that outweigh their costs, while critics say the benefits are overstated and the incentives divert taxpayer money from other needs. Some states that used to offer subsidies, including Michigan and Louisiana, have stopped doing so or pared them back substantially.
Still, California decided in 2014 to sweeten its own subsidies in an attempt to lure production back. The results have been mixed. Many more television shows are now being filmed in the state, but it still struggles to attract the mega-budget action movies that hit screens from May through the US Labor Day holiday in early September.
One of Hollywood's biggest stars, actor and producer Dwayne Johnson, moved his HBO TV series "Ballers" from Miami to the Los Angeles area after securing a California tax break. Johnson said he would like to film his big movies there, too.
"On the TV side, the incentives are fantastic," Johnson said in an interview. "On the film side, there is a lot of room for improvement."
Johnson's upcoming movie for Paramount Pictures, a remake of the TV show "Baywatch" about California lifeguards, was filmed on Tybee Island, Georgia, with help from tax credits.
Hollywood used to have a firm grip on film production because of its infrastructure, which includes numerous sound stages as well as specialized equipment and a large network of experienced crew members, actors and extras.
Increasingly, other locations such as the state of Georgia are offering good production facilities and trained personnel, though producing outside Los Angeles still often requires flying in some key workers.
"You have to think of these productions as three-legged stools," said Mary Ann Hughes, Disney's vice president of film production planning. "You need a local crew base, local infrastructure, and the production incentives."
California offers a 20 percent credit for feature films, applicable to $100 million in spending. Some costs receive an additional 5 percent. The state does not apply the credit toward one large chunk of movie budgets - the salaries of actors, directors and producers - as other locations do.
Since upping the subsidies, Hollywood has landed two forthcoming big-budget films. Disney's adaptation of children's book "A Wrinkle in Time" received an $18 million credit for $85 million in spending, and an untitled Paramount release was awarded $22 million for $102 million in spending.
But for most big-budget films, says Paul Audley, president of Hollywood-area film office FilmLA, "it simply doesn't make economic sense for them to come back."
Some officials in California say the increase in television and middle-budget film production is evidence the higher subsidies have been effective. The incentives have brought 11 TV series back to the state since 2015.
"It really is working. It is keeping a lot of people employed, and that is our goal," said Amy Lemisch, executive director of the California Film Commission. — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.