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