Latest news with #LesStudiosdeParis
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Les Studios de Paris, Where ‘Jackie' and ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' Filmed, Positions Itself as One Stop Shop for International Productions
Several decades ago, Luc Besson had a dream: to build a world-standard studio complex in Paris which could rival the U.K.'s Pinewood. He wanted to attract iconic international shoots and stop big Hollywood movies from filming all locations in France and then moving to London or back to the U.S. to shoot interiors. Besson opened La Cité du Cinéma in 2012, housing the 102,000 square foot Les Studios de Paris, the largest sound stage complex in the Paris area, boasting a stunning Cathedral style nave entrance. More from Variety Polish Talents Continue to Rise as Industry Eyes Overhaul to Incentive Scheme: 'We Need a System Equal to the Needs of Poland' 'The President's Cake' Review: Hasan Hadi's Warm and Heart-Tugging Tale Sends Dutiful Kids on an Odyssey in Saddam Hussein's Iraq SNL Film Lines Up Cast for Soccer Comedy 'Olde Boys' as Screenbound Launches Sales (EXCLUSIVE) On Friday, as part of Variety's Global Conversations Summit at Cannes, Brigitte Segal, head of Les Studios de Paris, and John Bernard, doyen of France's line-producers ('Inception,''Franklin,' 'The New Look,' 'Heads of State'), doubled down on how far Les Studios de Paris and France at large are near to Besson's dream, buoyed by indirect knock-on consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. When he started out in the business in France, no U.S. studios enquired about shooting studio work in France, Bernard recalled. The pandemic proved a game-changer. Line produced by Bernard, Apple TV+'s 'The New Look' was originally going to shoot locations in Paris, then move to Budapest for studio work. 'COVID suddenly changed the way films had to be made. It changed the way you could move from country to country and have multiple hubs because you had to go through at least a week to ten days of quarantining your crew and your cast between each place,' Bernard recalled. 'Your production designer potentially could lose a week of his whole prep just because the amount of time he's traveling between Budapest and Paris.' So Apple TV+ settled to shoot 'The New Look' in its entirety at Les Studios de Paris. 'We proved not only in terms of the way we shot it but also in terms of the budgets which we put together that in actual fact, it was more efficient and it was cheaper just to stay in one place,' said Bernard. The biggest and newest purpose-built studios in France, boasting nine soundstages, workshops and a wood mill, camera rentals and sound companies, Les Studios de Paris had already hosted Pablo Larrain's 'Jackie,' starring Natalie Portman, Netflix hit 'Emily in Paris' Seasons 1-3, and scenes from 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.' The Olympic Games proved, however, another turning point. The whole Cite du Cinéma was taken over for 10 months to house part the Olympic Village, its Cathedral nave for the restaurant, the Studios de Paris soundstages for training. At first, when the Olympic Committee explained their plans, Segal said that she was 'pretty depressed.' But the 10-month hiatus allowed her to think through how she could take the studios to the next level, facilitating their consolidation as a one-hub, one-stop-shop for big international shoots. 'The Olympics made me think that the Studios need to become a spot where productions can just base their camp on our grounds, storing their trucks on a site with security, guard dogs, and go shoot on location night and day outside in Paris, coming back, getting equipment, and going out again,' she said. To that end, Segal is creating a 30,000 square foot base camp area able to accommodate three large productions at once, Segal said. The Olympics added a hotel five minutes from the Studios. Segal plans a multi-story parking facility and pre-assembly workshops. France's Tax Rebate on International Productions already offers a robust 30% baseline return on eligible expenses incurred in France. A VFX spend of over €2 million ($2.2 million) triggers an extra 10% rebate on not only VFX but all expenditure. 'If there's any production of any size, you're definitely going to get the 10% bonus through a VFX $2.2 million minimum spend. So suddenly you're up to 40% on all of your expenditure,' Bernard said at the Summit. U.S. crew costs do not count towards the rebate, however – a large incentive to crew up in France, he noted. A single hub model for France will only work if the quality of crew justices justifies a big shoot filming just in France. That's certainly the case, Segal and Bernard argued. 'It's a key element about going into a studio. You've got to be able to build a set which looks fantastic. You've got to have the patina, painters and sculptors creating in an efficient and cost cost effective way,' said Bernard. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Variety to Host Global Conversations Summit at Cannes Film Festival
For the third year, Variety will host a Global Conversations Summit at Cannes Film Festival featuring four panels centered on global incentives and filming. The summit will take place on May 16 with panelists from Cinecittà, Les Studios de Paris, The Royal Commission of Alula and Bulgaria participating in conversations moderated by Variety journalists Leo Barraclough, John Hopewell, Nick Vivarelli and Alex Ritman. The panels will showcase each of the region's facilities, incentives and filming community. Guests at the conversations will include producers, sales agents, distributors and creatives looking to learn about the different filming opportunities in these regions. More from Variety Cannes' Thierry Fremaux on Trump's Tariff Plan, Resilience of American Film Culture: 'The United States Remains a Great Country for Cinema' Jessica Hausner and Annemarie Jacir Films Among Projects Pitched by Up-and-Coming European Producers in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE) Damson Idris, Anamaria Vartolomei to Star as Miles Davis and Juliette Greco in Mick Jagger-Produced 'Miles & Juliette' Manuela Cacciamani, CEO of Cinecittà; Nicola Borrelli, director general for Cinema; and Steve Jelley, producer and CO-CEO of Dimension Studio will speak on its facilities and production offerings. Brigitte Segal, president of Les Studios de Paris, and Peninsula Pictures producer John Bernard will speak on Studios de Paris and its facilities as the largest and newest inner city studio complex. Stuart Sutherland, CEO of Celtic Films Entertainment, filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour and acting executive director of Film AlUla Zaid Shaker will speak on behalf of The Royal Commission of Alula. Krassimira Belev, actor, producer and writer at First Draft; Martin I. Petrov, festival director at the International Film Festival Glasgow; Stefan Prohorov, international relations expert, Bulgarian National Film Center; and Yariv Lerner, CEO of Nu Boyana Film Studio will discuss the benefits of the incentives, crews and facilities in Bulgaria. If you are attending the Cannes Film Festival and would like to attend Variety Global Locations, please request an invite here. Conversations will be published on after the event. Variety will be present at Cannes Film Festival in several additional ways, including its annual Welcome to Cannes Party, the Variety and Golden Globes Breakthrough Artist Awards Party and more. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
