'Shanghai' producers praise Thai incentives
By Kong Rithdee
Thailand hopes to significantly boost its potential as a base for foreign movie production houses through a package of tax incentives it has introduced to lure them here. The country already enjoys a good reputation for having skilled technical crews, renowned craftsmanship and coordination services, said the management of Shanghai, a Hollywood thriller starring John Cusack, Gong Li and Chow Yun-fat now being shot in Bangkok.
''You have great production service companies, great crew and I was blown away by the quality of the sound stage _ it's first class,'' said executive producer Steve Squillante. ''But the topper to all of this is the tax rebate policy. [It is the policy that is being pursued] aggressively by other countries like Australia, England, as well as by many American states.
''It always helps if you build more infrastructure, perhaps another sound stage in the province. But what will help you recoup the value of those infrastructure is that you have an incentive that helps guarantee the amount of big foreign productions that would come here every year.''
At the end of a dusty soi on Pracha Uthit road, the opulent squalor of Japanese-occupied Shanghai of 1941 has been reconstructed with arresting details on the seven-rai backlot of Moonstar Studio, where the shooting of Shanghai has been underway since early July.
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| Chow Yun-fat acts in a demonstration scene from Shanghai at Moonstar Studio on Soi Pracha Uthit, where shooting of the film has been underway since early July. PAWAT LAOPAISARNTAKSIN |
Facades of neon-splashed nightclubs with pictures of smiling chanteuses, shadowy alleyways, vintage automobiles and, most ambitiously, the Shanghai Port where a huge ocean liner docks _ the set has been worked on by Thai craftsmen and technicians for six months under instruction from the film's production designers.
According to Living Films, the Thai production services company, this is the biggest backlot location in Southeast Asia.
''The production employs 748 Thais and 52 foreigners,'' said Chris Lowenstein, managing director of Living Films. ''Usually Thailand is famous for outdoor locations, but I hope that Shanghai will help change the perception of foreign producers about our ability to construct huge sets in a backlot or sound stage.''
Half of the film is being shot in Bangkok, Si Racha and Samut Songkhram, after the production failed to get permission from the Chinese government to shoot in China. The rest of the film has already been shot on location in England.
Jake Myers, one of the film's US producers, said: ''The Chinese government thought that the timing was not right for the shoot, with the Olympic Games coming up.
''We chose Bangkok because of the quality of the crew and the cost _ I would say it's slightly less expensive than shooting in China. The film relies heavily on set dressing and construction. Here we can build more [sets] and we can get more production value.''
All three stars showed up for the press conference. Cusack plays an American who arrives at the port city in 1941 to investigate the murder of a friend, and gets caught up in a romantic triangle with a singer and her boss, played by Gong and Chow respectively.
Cusack is impressed with the generosity of Thais and the crew. ''I would love to spend more time here, but with only a day off in a week, I haven't had the opportunity.''
Shanghai is directed by Mikael Hafstrom, who also directed 1408, Evil. The shoot will wrap on Aug 12, and the film will be released in the middle of 2009
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