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germAn inDustry lAunChes green ProDuCtion initiAtive Leading German broadcasters, streamers and producers have made a joint pledge to embrace more sustainable production methods.
The Green Shooting initiative includes production companies such as Constantin Film, Bavaria Film and Studio Hamburg, as well as ZDF, Netflix Germany, RTL Germany and Sky Germany and Austria. They have committed to a set of standards for sustainable productions. Projects produced according to the initiative’s standards can then be marked with a “green motion” label in their credits or promotional materials. The standards including switching to LED headlights, more train journeys, more environmentally friendly vehicles and more vegetarian foods.
The initiative has set out 21 must-have specifications. For a production to be awarded the green motion label, at least 18 of these requirements must be met. The Green Shooting working group plans to re-evaluate the minimum ecological standards after one year, adapting them as new technical methods for sustainable production emerge. The initiative is also supported by German funding agencies, as well the German Film Academy and producers association Allianz Deutscher Produzenten. Carl Bergengruen, MFG managing director and head of the Green Shooting working group, said the initiative was “a first, important step” toward creating a common ecological standard in Germany for all film, TV and streaming productions.
They also include the avoidance of diesel generators, short-haul flights and disposable dishes.
Image: Game of rones © Home Box Office, Inc.
Belfast filming hub Titanic Studios is up for sale. The 42,000 sqft unit is currently under licence to HBO and is famously a location where hit show Game of Thrones (above) was filmed. The space comprises two large clear span studios which are connected by a large acoustic door allowing for a combined use as one large space. Specialist commercial property consultants Riddell McKibbin is handling the sale.
netFlix exPAnDs uK PresenCe Netflix is expanding its studio presence in the UK with a deal to lease Longcross Studios. The streamer is partnering with the studio’s owners Aviva to operate and significantly expand the Surrey facility. The Longcross deal comes two years after the streamer took a long-term lease at Shepperton Film Studios to create a dedicated UK production hub including sound stages, workshops and office space. Netflix has ramped up UK production in recent years, filming shows such as The Crown (pictured right) and Sex Education.
Image: e Crown © Netflix.
the heart of Filmi Nagari, near many of the city’s tech, film and TV production companies.
FrAmestore oPens mumbAi stuDio VFX house Framestore has opened a 30,000 sqft purpose-built studio in Mumbai. The studio currently houses 120 VFX specialists working across titles such as The Matrix Resurrections, His Dark Materials, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
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Image: 1899 © Rasmus Voss & Netflix.
The company says it is still hiring in areas such as compositing, tracking and CFX, and aims to achieve its first phase of a 300-person team early in 2022. This will be followed by a phase two build-out, which will see the studio double in size the following year. The Mumbai studio will work with Framestore on films and high-end dramas. It is located in the Goregaon area of Mumbai in the Nesco IT Park in
Framestore has worked on recent and upcoming titles including: Red Notice, The Suicide Squad, No Time To Die, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, His Dark Materials, 1899, The King’s Man and Cowboy Bebop. The company also has offices in London, Vancouver, Montreal, Melbourne, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Fiona Walkinshaw, Framestore’s global managing director of film, says: “We have more projects on our slate than ever before, and Mumbai is a vital addition to our global offer given the wealth of formidable talent in the area.”
