Woody Allen was also taken by Barcelona, and enjoyed the experience of working with Vicky Cristina Barcelona’s Catalan producers MediaPro so much that he decided to sign a three-picture deal with them. “Vicky Cristina Barcelona was a dream come true,” MediaPro’s Jaume Roures told Metropolitan. “We are very proud to be working with one of the world’s best film-makers.”
“We have a very strong film industry here in Catalunya,” said a spokesperson for the Barcelona Film Commission, who asked not to be named. “There are hundreds of productions that shoot here every year, which we help by providing facilities and shooting permits through our network of 120 members, including city councils, spread throughout the region.”
Film producers who shoot in Catalunya can potentially access up to €400,000 per project from the Catalan government, depending on the film’s Catalan cultural content (local director, crew, cast, story, setting, etc.) and its commercial success through box office and internet film downloads.
Furthermore, in an interesting twist, the Catalan government has also set up a €2 million per project funding incentive, with backing from local television broadcaster TV3, to support Catalan-language projects with international market appeal and bigger budgets. Recent films taking advantage of this fund include Daniel Benmayor’s 2009 historical drama Bruc, starring Juan José Ballesta as a Catalan drummer who takes on Napoleon’s army single-handedly, and Kike Maíllo’s sci-fi film Eva, starring Daniel Brühl as a shy genius who designs robot software, which will screen this year. Both films are budgeted at €5 million, which is a lot of money for a Catalan project.
Latest Comments