Foreign productions spend Lm50m over five years

An estimated Lm50 million would have been spent by the 50 foreign audio-visual productions shot in Malta in the five years leading up to next September, according to the Malta Film Commission.

Acting film commissioner Oliver Mallia said that since 1998, there had been 100 weeks of shooting and 80 weeks of pre-production in 50 locations. Six major film sets were built and 5,000 people, including extras, worked in the industry.

Speaking at an MFC presentation on the local film industry at the Intercontinental Hotel, Mr Mallia said large-scale projects, such as Gladiator and Troy, involved around 300 labourers, 100 crew and 10,000 extras days.

In the case of Troy, which is being filmed over 10 weeks in Malta between May 6 and July 4 on an estimated budget of $150 million, around 8,000 extras days are involved. The auditions started on Monday.

The total budget of feature films ranged between $2 million and $150 million, Mr Mallia said, while big-budget productions brought in between 150 and 200 foreigners to work in key roles.

The audio-visual productions of the last five years included 10 feature films, 10 TV series, 17 commercials, seven documentaries and three music videos.

Fort Ricasoli, Vittoriosa and Palazzo Parisio are the most popular and requested locations, and public locations can cost a production company around Lm100 a day.

Speaking about the problems facing Malta's film industry, Mr Mallia mentioned its competitors - primarily Morocco, Eastern European countries and Tunisia - which have cheap labour costs, skilled technicians and the appropriate infrastructure, as well as state funds and fiscal and financial incentives to enhance their infrastructure and attract more films.

On the other hand, Malta was still cheaper than other Western European countries and its water tanks remained unique in Europe, Mr Mallia said.

Other obstacles to the industry included the lack of fiscal incentives and infrastructure, particularly sound stages, which could lead to a slump when film genre trends change and less period films are produced.

Lack of film funds rendered cinematographic coproductions impossible and continuous training was required to build a more technical and wider resource base, Mr Mallia said.

Other stumbling blocks included delays on VAT refunds and demands for substantial and unreasonable donations from local councils or private locations from production companies for shooting. High shipping and freight costs - among the highest in Europe - were also a disadvantage to the industry.

Speaking about the way forward, Mr Mallia mentioned the setting up of a film fund to produce quality local productions for international release, as well as the introduction of film legislation to regulate the industry.

The MFC intended to sign more bilateral treaties with countries like Australia, the UK and France and proposed the introduction of a film business degree at the university.

The MFC would shortly launch a new web site and is publishing the second edition of the film production guide next month, Mr Mallia said.

Speaking about the success of the film-servicing sector and the MFC, the parliamentary secretary in the Economic Services Ministry, George Hyzler, said the industry was today "placed on a footing that is sounder than it ever was".

Dr Hyzler said that EU "membership and only membership" would help Malta achieve the objective of not only servicing films, but also of being involved in the development of the industry.

As an EU member, Malta would be able to participate in the MEDIA Plus programme and the European Investment Bank's Innovation 2000 Initiative, through which both public and private organisations would be able to obtain funds for training programmes, or to develop audio-visual projects.

Going through the impressive list of film productions of the last five years, commission coordinator Luisa Bonello said that following the successful shoot of the BBC's Daniel Deronda last July, the corporation's drama, Byron, started shooting yesterday over a period of two weeks in 11 locations.

Helen of Troy, which was shot in Malta in 2002, is being aired in the US on Easter Sunday. In fact, in April and May, films shot in Malta are occupying eight hours of prime-time TV in the US, she said.