France: one of the world’s best locations for shooting movies
Cannes, Deauville, the César Awards… France is hardly short of names which immediately evoke the chic and glamour of the silver screen. However, France’s passion for the “7th Art” extends far beyond the red carpet and its cast of celebrities, actors and directors of worldwide acclaim. Neither is it just a giant list of award-winners. Today, cinema in France is also an important business in its own right.
In 2009, no fewer than 830 movies – 90 of which were feature-length – were shot in Paris alone, amounting to a total of 3318 days of shooting. The Bourne Ultimatum, directed by Paul Greengrass, featuring Matt Damon, and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, featuring Brad Pitt, are just some of the blockbusters which were either partially or entirely shot on location in France, while forthcoming “made in France” releases include Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, featuring Leonardo Di Caprio, and Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamwork Studios.
Why then are Hollywood producers and directors so keen to shoot in France?…
True, France boasts spectacular countryside and renowned film-making savoir-faire. But there is another reason: since 2009, France has been giving financial support to foreign movies shooting in France through the Tax Rebate for International Productions (TRIP) which gives a 20% rebate to films spending over €1 million and five days’ shooting in the country. This very generous tax credit can also be claimed against the salaries of French and European writers and actors hired for the production, as well as on technical expenses (transport and catering). Since it was introduced, the TRIP tax rebate has helped 15 international productions to shoot scenes in France, generating tens of millions of euros in receipts.
This policy of encouraging and welcoming foreign productions in France can be seen in the ambitious investments being made throughout the country. In 2009, the city of Lyon – where the Lumière brothers developed the world’s first movie projector – opened two new studios, “Lumière 1” and “Lumière 2”, in the suburb of Villeurbanne. In all, the Rhône-Alpes region now boasts three studios, totaling 13,000m2 of filming space. Meanwhile, the director and CEO of the Europacorp production company, Luc Besson, is planning to build a giant complex near Paris, with enough space to rival Hollywood studios. In Marseille, where 400 movies are already shot every year, former army training grounds are being converted into studios for shooting action films.
With tax breaks and massive investment being made in infrastructure, the French authorities have made a conscious decision to promote cinema as a fully fledged business sector, capable of attracting foreign investment which in turn will lead to the creation of jobs. The icing on the cake is that these policies are having at least one indirect consequence: according to the market research company IFOP, two-thirds of foreign tourists in France in the last three years were attracted to the country through movies they had seen.
