Two major film productions are to be filmed in Cape Town soon, not only benefiting the local film industry, but the tourism industry too. This will help to establish the film industry in Cape Town as ‘one of the world’s most respected filming and TV destinations’, said the Cape Town Film Commission CEO Denis Lillie, reports the Cape Times.
‘The History of Great Britain’ will be filmed by an American company, and Cape Town has been chosen for the filming as ‘the city’s geography was similar to that of Britain‘. ‘Labyrinth’ will be shot in the city later this month by internationally acclaimed director Scott Ridley. In addition, a coup is the filming of a 22-series TV series ‘Law and Order’ from March next year, a revenue boost for the city of R66 million.
Lillie said that the local film industry employs 12500 staff, and contributes R5,5 billion to the Cape economy. Lillie expects the value of the industry to grow in the next year. The Cape Film Commission is also working in distributing films of local filmmakers through trade agreements with other ‘film capital cities’ such as Hong Kong, London, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mumbai. The support received from the Cape Town Film Permit Office, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government has ‘enabled Cape Town to become a world-class film-friendly city’, Lillie said.
There is a possibility that the filming of the completion of the latest James Bond movie may move from India to Cape Town, it was reported last week. It is hoped that ‘Carte Blanche’, the latest James Bond book, will become a movie too, and will be filmed in Cape Town.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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Well I have visited Cape Town 3 times and can’t say it reminds me of Great Britain!!! Table Mountain – can’t recall one of those? But still good revenue for the city
I agree Lisa.
I read the sentence in the article twice to make sure I had not misread it.
Chris
Hi Guys,
I remember many years ago a international film crew shot scenes from a movie along the Macassar coastline. Supposedly the ‘white cliffs of dover’. The movie starred Ryan O’Neil and Ali McGraw. Can’t remember the name and showing my age on both accounts 🙂
I don’t recall that the movie was shot here Dave. In those days no one made a noise about such things!
Chris
Maybe you were still in Germany then, Chris? 😉
Don’t know about Ryan O ‘Neil but beach scenes from Ryan’s Daughter were shot on Noordhoek beach in I think 1970. The location was meant to be Ireland.
No Tyla, I was still at school then, locally.
Chris
Cape Town loves to tell the world how beuatiful it is but it really means nothing at then end of the day when crime is spiralling out of control. The latest crime figures have been whitewashed (pardon the pun) into making people think that this country is a safe palce to visit when in reality, it is still very much a dangerous destination. The amount of muggings on Table mountain, the city’s biggest asset, continues unabated and the authorities efforts are proving to be futile. Lets get the city safe for its own citizens first before we try and prove to the world that CT is worth visiting!