The North Carolina Film Office reveals that state location filming in the first half of 2012 has already surpassed the figure for the whole of 2011. Nearly 40 different projects have set out plans to shoot, perhaps taking inspiration from major state showcase The Hunger Games.
New Zealand’s screen industries grew by 4% in 2011 on the previous year, generating nearly NZD3 billion in revenue. The figures from Statistics NZ show that feature work in the country increased by 15%, with nearly 25% of revenue coming from feature production.
New Superman film Man of Steel was one of the feature projects that helped deliver over CAD2 million for Vancouver Island in 2011. The island covers nearly 20,000 square miles and is a 20-minute flight from the city of Vancouver. It’s the largest island in the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.
Overall 2011 was a good year for Pinewood Shepperton, with the studios showing an impressive 24% rise in film revenue on the previous year. The healthy overall figure masks a slight dip in the second half of the year.
Ontario had a great 2011 with a 30% increase in direct spend from foreign shoots, including a nearly 50% rise in international features. International TV shoots rose by a little over 25%. The overall production spend throughout the province was also up 30%, surpassing the CAD1 billion mark.
Major shoots for Brad Pitt’s World War Z and Cloud Atlas helped feed more than GBP20 million into Glasgow’s economy throughout 2011, according to figures from the city’s film office. World War Z delivered nearly GBP3.5 million when it turned the city centre into Philadelphia for nearly 20 days.
Louisiana has reaffirmed its position as one of the central filming production hubs in the US – and indeed the world – by making some USD1.3 billion during 2011. The figures from film office Louisiana Entertainment are not quite official yet, but it’s clear the state had a hugely successful year.
California saw a 4.2% rise in location filming for 2011, but the number of TV and feature production filming days fell sharply in the fourth quarter. During these three months TV production declined by nearly 11% and feature filming days by more than 25%.
It’s been a good year for the established production hubs around the world, with regions like Buenos Aires, South Africa, Eastern Europe and New Zealand maintaining their appeal for commercial projects. Australia has seen a production resurgence, while in the US the spectre of budget deficits has put real pressure on state filming incentives.
New York’s filming incentives have prompted a 66% rise in the number of productions applying to film in the state in 2011, according to figures released by the Office of Motion Picture and Television Development. Nearly 140 projects have visited so far this year, compared to 91 in 2010.