Superstar actor-producer Hugh Jackman filmed comic-book follow-up The Wolverine largely on location in Australia with director James Mangold. New South Wales filming locations doubled for Japan and the production based itself at Fox Studios in Sydney.
Tempomedia filmed on location in the sand dunes of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands west of Morocco to capture an epic desert fantasy for soft drink brand Fanta. Fanta: Official Sponsor of FANTAsy shows a princess in a desert outpost defending herself from a giant robot attack.
Lithuania has launched a new 20% location filming incentive in a bid to boost the country’s production industry. The programme will become available on 1 January 2014 and will run until the end of 2018.
Expedition and Production Management (EPM) Asia Ltd has launched the first in a planned series of fact sheets offering technical production advice for location filming. Steven Ballantyne started EPM Asia in London before moving to Hong Kong in 2010 and he specialises in Asian filming.
Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann recreated the New York period setting of The Great Gatsby on location in New South Wales with Leonardo DiCaprio when filming incentive support became unavailable in the US. Shooting was based at Fox Studios in Sydney.
New pirate TV drama Black Sails helped boost South Africa’s production industry. The eight-part series used all four sound stages at Cape Town Film Studios and built sets including an artificial beach and a period village for the Caribbean-set story.
Academy Films headed to Lake Wakatipu on New Zealand’s South Island to film a new spot for mobile provider Vodafone. Lake shows a woman relaxing on a jetty in warm sunshine as clear water laps around her and she ignores the loud vibrate of her phone.
Actor Nicolas Cage has testified to lawmakers to support a formal location filming incentive that’s being considered for Nevada in the south-west US. The state does not currently offer any filming incentives, but a bill has been proposed that would introduce a 20% filming tax credit.
Michigan location filming for Transformers 4 and Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut How to Catch a Monster could help boost the state’s filmmaking profile. There are also high hopes for new TV crime drama Low Winter Sun.
Lithuania has moved a step closer towards a national location filming incentive. An amendment has been approved by the government and will soon be subject to a parliamentary vote.