thailand film commission vol 03-06.pdf

8/14/2019 THAILAND FILM COMMISSION Vol 03-06.pdf

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Film in Thailand

Department of Tour i smDepartment of Tour i sm

The Producers Guild of Americas third annual Produced byConference (PBC) joins this year with the Association of FilmCommissioners International (AFCI) Locations show to be held at

The Walt Disney Studios on June 3-5, 2011.

Reaching across film, television and new media industries, PBC is aneducational forum that involves acclaimed producers, includingcountless Academy Award-winning filmmakers and Emmy Awardwinners, as well as creative entrepreneurs.

This unique collaboration of Produced by Conference along withAFCI Locations brings together the producing field with an extensivenumber of domestic and international film commissions.

And the Department of Tourism, Thailand Film Officewill be there!Please visit with us at the Walt Disney Studios, Section A Buena Vista

Lot #712 & #714

While our stay in Burbank is a short one, we hope to meet with asmany of you as possible. And dont forget to sign up for ourmonthly Film in Thailand e-magazine.

By the Numbers

Its that time of year again when we analyze our performance byquarterly statistics.

What is strikingly apparent is productions during the first quarterof 2011 are up 20% over the same period last year. According to theDepartment of Tourism, Thailand earned Bt1.87 billion (US$60

million), in 2010, double the more than Bt900 million ($30 million)earned in 2009 - this revenue from 578 foreign productions shot inthe country last year. 194 productions were shot in Thailand duringthe first three months of 2011 earning B435 million ($14.4 million).

In terms of types of productions during the first quarter, 93 TVCs, 53documentaries, 29 TV series, 10 features and 9 music videos wereshot.

Traditionally Japan and India (respectively), have filmed the greatestnumber of productions each year in Thailand however for the firstthree months of 2011, Europe has taken over the number oneposition with Japan following behind (despite the devastating

earthquake that hit the Japanese island on March 11) India fallingto third place.

Bump in European productions may be from renewed Europeaninterest in filming in Thailand after the $28.2 million Frenchproduction Largo Wince II (The Burma Conspiracy) was filmed &produced largely in Thailand.

Whats News?

Volume 3 Issue 6 2011

Produced by Conference/2011 Location Show Issue

Whats News? Whos Saying What Film Me & Pitch it to MeWhats Up Private Sector?


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Film in Thailand

Department of Tour i sm

Whos Saying What

So What Makes Thailand Special?

Partial Reprint with permission from Asia Image May/June 2011by Scott Rosenberg

This writer will not try to answer the question of why Thailand is apopular location for shooting and producing films. Instead, thefollowing are quotes from well known directors, producers and aproduction service coordinator who works on a daily basis withinternational film and TV makers.

When asked what he thinks of Thai production services,

Academy Award winning actor William Hurt, who concludedshooting Shadowsin Thailand in early March 2009 said, Theywere phenomenal!

photo courtesy AMW International Co. Ltd. left to right: William Hurt, wife of former US Ambassador

to Thailand Eric John, Ambassador John, Secretary of the Board of Investment of Thailand Achaka

Brimble, former managing director of Technicolor Asia, Paul Stambaugh.

Singaporean director Jack Neo (I Not Stupid, Money Not

Enough): The theatres and facilities in Bangkok are excellent. Ido my post-production work here. ... Im ...amazed by thefacilities!

Anthony DSuza (Tony), director of one of Bollywoods mostexpensive movies Blue, who filmed 55 days on location inThailand with a crew of 85 from India, said that the productionservices industry in Thailand is better than in India. Overall,infrastructure is better here. While India has the same or betterlandscapes - communication, transportation and professionalcrews are all superior in Thailand: crews work hard and get thejob done in the shortest amount of time. And we all know thattime is money...so the money that we have to spend on travel

and accommodations here in country is more than compensatedfor in money that we save in production time.

Elephant White (Millennium Films, 2010) producer FrankDeMartini: It has been a pleasure working with the entire Thaiteam. They are dedicated and hard working. We could neverhave gotten as much done as we did in the short period of timewe had if it were not for their commitment to the project.

Vietnamese Director LeTh anh Son (Bay Rong Clash): Vietnamese filmmakers l ike using postproduction services in

T h a i l a n d b e c a u s e t h etechnicians both foreign andThai are well trained. But it isnot only better training,their attitude toward work ismuch more focused than inVietnam they seem to care about their work and do it quicklyand proficiently. Thailand has the best post production facilitiesin all of Asia.

Hollywood director Darnell Martin (Cadillac Records, USA TVepisodes Homicide: Law on the Street- Thai productionservices people are very informed, professional and serious

about their industry. Besides that, the country side is beautifuland people quite hospitable. Morio Amagi, producer of

the Japanese film Oba theLast Samurai: Actually,Saipan was not so convenienta location for filming so wedecided to shoot in Asia andwe scout for locations thathad landscape similar toSaipan. We narrowed ours e a r c h d o w n t o t h ePhilippines and Thailand. We

finally chose Thailand because of the abundance of equipmentavailable here and the capability of production staff.

Largo Winch I & IIdirectorJrme Salle: The Thai crewworked very hard becausethey truly love what they do they have a very dynamicway of working.

photo courtesy AMW International Co. Ltd.,director Le Thanh Son

photo courtesy Morio AMagi from

Oba the Last Samurai shot in Thailand

photo courtesy Largo Winch II production

left to right: Tomer Sisley (lead actor),Mamee (Thai actress), French director

Jrme Salle

Continued on page 3 >>>



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Film in Thailand


D i rector Roel Rei ne:Scorpion King: Rise of the

dead(Universal Pictures,2010): Thai crews areamazing. They work hardand really enjoy theirwork . They a re v eryprofessional in theirapproach to their jobs alot like Dutch crews in thatthey all chip in to get thejob done. In Hollywood,

things are a bit moresegmented.

photo courtesy AMW International Co. Ltd.

When asked why he thought Thailand was so popular with foreignfilm crews, Don Robinson, head of Siamlite International Co., Ltd.(Thai film equipment provider) listed the following:1. Because Thailand has a large clothing manufacturing industry,

costumes are easy to have made and inexpensive.

2. Because of the extremely well developed tourism infrastructurethere are excellent hotels spread throughout the country, be ita remote island or in the farthest jungles and mountains.Therefore, when shooting in remote locations you are likely tofind a place for your crew to stay. Also, this has increased thenumber of people who have learned English.

3. The technical facilities are very advanced with several camera,lighting and grip companies providing state of the artequipment including the latest in digital cameras like the RedMX and Arri Alexa.

4. The equipment rental companies are staffed with, full time,highly skilled crews to accompany the equipment. Each crewperson is put through rigorous training, is familiar with the

equipment and used to working together as a team. They canprovide English speaking crew in all key positions.

5. Thailand is number one for set construction with skilled

craftsmen available in all fields at astonishingly inexpensiverates. Our set construction personnel, Art Directors, andProduction designers are second to none.

6. Thailand has many sound stages with modern air conditioning,soundproofing, green rooms, wardrobe room, makeup roomsand overhead rigging structures in place.

7. We have a long track record of doing foreign films of all kinds.8. For film processing, we have complete facilities for digital post

production as well as well as film processing.9. Thailand is a fun place to shoot and the crews are able to find

the best in food and entertainment after work.

photo courtesy Don Robinson Siamlite: Red MX camera mounted on

an elephant for the feature Cutting Loose


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Film in Thailand


Whats Up Private Sector?

Location Thailand was contacted for an urgent job from Australiatwo days prior to Songkran ( Thai New Year in April).

Film Headquarters was returning to Thailand after shooting inJanuary to double locations of England, Germany, Scandinavia,Latin America, China as Asia andRussiain Thailand. Timing wascritical to shoot straight after Songkran New Year.

In addition, accidentda m a g e wa s theorder of the day andv e h i c l e s w e r e

required both lefthand drive and righthand drive for thosec o u n t r i e s . E a c hcountry requiredvehicles specific tothem, thus Englandwanted London Taxis,Range Rovers, Minisor Jaguars - and ad o u b l e d e c k e rLondon Bus!

Germany requiredMercedes & Audis.Scandinavia, Saabsand Volvos. LatinAmerica, Peugeot,GM, Fords or Fiats.Tha iland, Tuk-Tuks,taxis, Toyotas andMazdas and finallyR u s s i a , S k o d a s ,Mercedes and Opels.

To match the country locations required to the storyboard EnglishArchitecture, modern European styled buildings and streets forScandinavia and Germany were selected. Coast roads with bluewaters and tropical looks for Latin America, Thailand and Asia - specialrequests for a vibrant Chinatown and Russian buildings were alsomatched.

Logistics involved were substantial with producers flying in fromAustralia and Russia, US director coming in from Lebanon and UnitedKingdom DP from New York apart from client and agency fromNorthern Europe.

Then the kicker - we had two days to shoot and a day to edit.Locations were hundreds of kilometers apart for the coast road shothowever most of the other locations were grouped within Bangkok.Logistics had to be resolved to move 87 crew and 12 foreign locationsa nd 40 ca st a ndextras plus talentwho were bei ngleap-frogged due tothe tight schedulebetween locations.

Off l ine edit ing &

grading was donein-house at LocationThailands offices andthe shoot completedo n t i m e . A g a i nThailand was able toprovide multiple country locations all within the confines of budgetsand one stop shooting.

Participating companies included:

Location Thailand Limited- Production Services

Freeland Films - Production Co-ordinationCinerent - Cameras and EquipmentChobChingChai Movie Cars - carsLocation Thailand Co Ltd - offline Post ProductionOriental Post - color grading

Producers:Ric LawesMaew Trachai

photo courtesy Location Thailand



http://www.locationthailand.com/new/mailto:ric%40locationthailand.com?subject=mailto:ric%40locationthailand.com?subject=http://www.locationthailand.com/new/


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Film in Thailand


Please ContactThailand Film Office, Department of Tourism

Ministry of Tourism and SportsRama 1 Road, Bangkok 10330 Thailand

Tel. 66-2219-4010-7 Ext. 462-463,634 , 66-2216-6907 Fax. 66-2216-6656www.thailandfilmoffice.org E-mail: [email protected]

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Film Me & Pitch it to Me

Chanthaburi Province

Chanthaburi is 245 km from Bangkok and covers an area of 6,338km2. It is famous for tropical fruits & gems. It is rich with lush forestsand scenic waterfalls.

Quiet fishing villages & peaceful sand swept beaches can be foundhere.

History

Once a prehistoricha bi ta t i on a rea , a

number of stone toolsand artifacts from theNeolithic Age weredi scov ered dur i ngsurv eys a t sev era larchaeological sites inChanthaburi.

Chong was the first Mon-Khmer hunting-gathering community tohave settled in the eastern forests in what are now Chanthaburi, Tratand Rayong provinces in ca. the 13th century A.D. The first settlement

n Chanthaburi was near Khao Sa Bap. The forest area, especially onthe boundary between Chanthaburi and Trat, was abundant in herbsand forest products.

A n e w c i t y w a sestablished in 1657 A.D.at Ban Lum on the westbank of the ChanthaburiRiver.

A t t h e f a l l o f t h eKingdom of Ayutthayain 1767 A.D., King Taksin

the Great, then PhrayaWachiraprakan, led atroop of some 500

soldiers to break through and head eastward to occupy Chanthaburi.He took 5 months to store foodstuffs and recruit a troop of 5,000Thai and Chinese soldiers to regain the independence of thekingdom. Monuments and memorials built to commemorate thehistoric event well reflect the pride of the people of Chanthaburi.

The province was officially established in 1933.

After the Paknam crisis in 1893, French colonist troops occupiedChanthaburi, returning it to Thailand in 1905 when Thailand gaveup ownership of the western part of Cambodia. A significant minorityof Chanthaburi citizens are native Vietnamese, who came in threewaves - first in the 19thcentury during an anti-Catholic persecution inCochin China, a second

wave came in the 1920sto 1940s fleeing fromFrench Indochina, anda t h i r d a f t e r t h ecommunist victory inVietnam in 1975.

Thus the town of Chanthaburi is the seat of a Bishop of Chanthaburisince 1944. The Catholic Church, Chanthanimit Road on the riverbank is the largestCatholic structure in

Thailand. Built in 1909,i t i s o f G o t h i carchitectural style. Theoriginal tall roof wastaken down duringWorld War ll to make itless conspicuous as apossible target.

photo copyright and courtesy Chanthaburi Province




http://www.thailandfilmoffice.org/mailto:film%40thailandfilmoffice.org?subject=http://www.thailandfilmoffice.org/mailto:film%40thailandfilmoffice.org?subject=http://tinyurl.com/43vow8ghttp://tinyurl.com/3oxtlqfhttp://tinyurl.com/43vow8gmailto:film%40thailandfilmoffice.org?subject=http://www.thailandfilmoffice.org/

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