Film commissioner Peter Busuttil recently underlined Malta as a prime location for European film-makers during ‘Production Value 2012 – The European Scheduling and Budgeting Workshop’.
This was organised by Focal (Switzerland) and the Norwegian, Swedish and Austrian Film Institutes, supported by Media Training, an EU programme.
Thirty two film professionals from 18 European countries attended the workshop, mostly assistant-directors, line producers, producers and directors. These included Marco Valerio Pugini (TV series Rome), Stuart Renfrew (Bridget Jones’ Diary), David Martinez (Knight and Day), Mathias Schwerbrock (John Rabe) and Kaare Storemyr (Kon-Tiki, shot last summer in Malta).
Mr Busuttil highlighted that international producers and high-calibre film directors have long been coming to Malta for a number of reasons.
Despite stiff competition from other film locations, Malta has provided support services to many foreign film companies for the production of feature films, adverts and TV series.
Malta has hosted over 100 feature films in 86 years, with the earliest known film being Sons of the Sea, directed by H. Bruce Woolfe in 1925, and the most recent World War Z, directed by Marc Forster.
Well-known directors who have shot in Malta include Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Robert Altman, Oliver Stone, Guy Ritchie, Robert Young, Ron Howard, Guy Hamilton, Alan Parker, Michael Anderson and Peter Yates.
The seven-day residential workshop was held in collaboration with Falkun Films, the local organiser, between January 6 and 14.
The workshop allowed participants to focus on the art and craft of scheduling and budgeting for complex feature films.
This involved working on the pre-preparations for six existing film projects resulting in the delivery of professional budgets and shooting schedules using programmes such as Movie Magic Budgeting 7 and Movie Magic Scheduling 5 software.
Production Value intends to pass on knowledge in scheduling and budgeting and beyond in a multicultural environment.
The Malta Film Commission is responsible for promoting, developing and supporting the flm servicing industry in Malta in addition to developing an indigenous film industry through training programmes and the Malta Film Fund.
To find out more visit www.mfc.com.mt.