Written by on Oct 16, 2012. Posted in On Location

Malta Film Commission awarded EU funds to help boost film crew base

The Malta Film Commission has been awarded EUR500,000 to help it develop its film crew base. Money will be funnelled into training below-the-line production employees like location scouts, special effects and lighting experts, and wardrobe managers.

Malta is already a popular filming location and is particularly famous for the water tank facilities at its Mediterranean Film Studios. Its main drawback is that as a small island it does not have a large crew base. Bigger productions often have to import up to half their crew, especially in the not-uncommon event that there are multiple shoots going on across the country. The EU funding could help change that.

Tonio Fenech is Malta’s Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment, and spoke to Malta Today about the EU cash injection: “As competition increases in the television and film industries, Malta must remain desirable to foreign film producers.

Investing in the creation of a skilled labour force can provide quality assurance to international productions.

Tonio Fenech, Maltese Minister

Fenech adds: “Investing in the creation of a skilled labour force can provide quality assurance to international productions, thus maintaining and increasing Malta's competitive edge.”

Tom Hanks’ modern piracy drama Captain Phillips has been among the recent high-profile visitors to Malta, alongside Brad Pitt’s zombie drama World War Z and glossy TV fantasy Sinbad.

(Images: The Producer’s Creative Partnership)