From the movie “The Enforcer” to “The Bricklayer”, the Greek staff working on the productions that were shot and are being shot in Thessaloniki has increased by about 20%, Robert Van Norden, producer of Millennium Media, explained to APE-MPE. As he mentioned from the set of his shooting The Bricklayer Mr. Van Norden, when his shooting started about ten months ago The Enforcer filmed in Thessaloniki, the need for staff in many specialties exceeded all the possibilities that the city could provide. This is no longer the case.
“Today there are executives of all specialties who were in the first steps of their experience last summer. “This has changed, and we have them with us in productions full of knowledge and experience, it is an important development”, stressed the producer of the company that “… has perhaps the greatest experience in this industry with 400 productions”, as noted by Mr. Norden.
During a tour of journalists in the studios under construction in Nea Redestou, the experienced producer explains to APE-MPE the course of the “Hellenization” of audiovisual producers in many sectors. “All the constructions -s.s plate with interior models- are made by Greek craftsmen as much as possible, but also with materials that will be purchased and processed in Greece. This is now done, for example, with the wardrobe where the necessary range is built in Greece, with of course some suits having to be sewn here. The clothes, for example, worn by Aaron Eckhart in the movie “The Bricklayer”, had to be sewn custom for the famous protagonist and of course there was no problem to find seamstresses, seamstresses most notable in Greece. On the other hand, whether you believe it or not, it is a problem to find … electricians! The work of the electrician for set in a film is something very specialized … “, explains the experienced producer of” Olympus Fell “,” Out of Bounds “,” The Guardian Angel Fell “,” The Protégé “.
Mr. Van Norden emphasizes that in any case a film production is, for the most part, a multinational affair and for “The Bricklayer” the staff includes technicians of Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian origin, but the big bet is more and more Greeks participate in each film. “We had decided from the beginning that this is a long-term decision, to shoot films in Greece, in Thessaloniki …”, notes the Millennium Media executive.
Day 44 of 45 for “The Bricklayer”
The shooting of this film ends tomorrow, Thursday 12 May. The action is intense on the 44th working day and on the main outdoor set in the studios of Nu Boyana Film Studios Hellenic. Here today, Millennium Media is shooting the movie “The Bricklayer” on a large artificial roof, where a few months ago the model of an aircraft carrier was set up. It is the stage for the shootings that will be done by the protagonist Aaron Eckhart who, a little while ago, has taken a short break for food, under the special tent for the actors.
The technicians complete the construction and installation of the audio and video recording systems for the shots, the lighting and digital camera specialists test and change the necessary lenses before the “… rolling, action!” to shoot the scene.
As Mr. Van Norden explains, the famous protagonist today and here in New Redesto, is shooting the scene that will be one of his first scenes in the final film. “Bricklayer”, in the script, has left the CIA and now works as a technician specializing in the manufacture of tiled roofs, living a quiet and humble life. That’s when he “meets” Nina Dobrev and a former CIA operative to discuss what needs to be done from there on as part of the mission he will be asked to undertake.
If parts of a runway can be seen under the roofs that have been set up, this is done for one of the secrets in the operation of the studios is “… the use and reuse -repurposing- of the spaces”. That way no viewer will know that where Aaron Eckhart “transforms again” into a CIA agent, a few months ago “… Jason Statham was confronted by many stuntmen on an aircraft carrier!”, As Robert Van Norden explains .
Robert Van Norden (A)
“The Enforcer”: premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival for the first film shot in Thessaloniki
At the same time that the shooting of the film starring Aaron Eckhart is completed, Thessaloniki will soon see the first trailer of “The Enforcer”, the gangster / noir film with Antonio Banderas that was shot last summer in the city streets.
The first Hollywood production in the history of the city, as Robert Van Norden answered the APE-MPE, will premiere at the upcoming Venice Film Festival and will be launched to the public “… around the end of August this year”. The producer of the company Millennium Media, in fact, stressed that the creators of the film are “very happy with the final result”. It is worth remembering that this was the first topic of discussion in the city last summer and “transformed” many locations in Thessaloniki into similar ones in exotic and distant Miami.
Special effects and the Greek factor
Apart from the shooting in physical spaces and studios and the technical needs that exist in all the productions that have taken place in Thessaloniki in the last 10 months, another invisible stage of the production of a film that is being shot is that of special effects.
The huge blue screen that is replaced by a green one, when the shooting is on an indoor stage, will be “filled” with images that the director will need, something that is done in every now more cinematic production of claims. As Robert Van Norden explained, there is already a specific infrastructure that has been set up in a building on the outskirts of the Thessaloniki ring road that is full of powerful servers and coveted high-speed internet – “something we had a hard time getting to the level of requirements we have …” confessed. The special effects that “The Enforcer” needed to turn Thessaloniki into Miami were “built” there. At the same time, there are digital directions and shots taken by the cameras of “Bricklayer” during the shooting.
In other words, at the same time that filming is taking place in locations and studios in Thessaloniki, the digital sections of the special effects of the film are being prepared in the city.
Regarding the specific jobs, Mr. Van Norden, explained that they are constantly looking for staff who will work together to create effects in Greece, which “means jobs in teams that will work together, smaller or larger in number depending on the film. , with us every time “.
Visits to the penultimate day of production and the new production
The present on the penultimate day of the production of “The Bricklayer” was given by the No. 1 man of the production company, the founder of Millennium Media. The big boss, president in addition to the founder of Nu Image, Inc., Millennium Films and the related companies of the group, the 74-year-old Avi Lerner, noble and discreet, had come to watch the shooting in Nea Redesto, while shortly before, on a visit In the area, Mr. Van Norden had met with the president of EOT Angela Gerekou, as well as with the vice-governor of Tourism, Alexandros Thanos in the studios.
In the next period and from the 22nd of May, after all, with Mr. Norden’s company operating as an intermediate facility but not as a producer, the shooting of the film “Tin Soldier” with the Oscar winner, begins. Robert De Niro. The film will be shot mainly in the area of ​​Drama but also in Thessaloniki.
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