While few doubted that the big-budget Hollywood epic " Cold Mountain " figured heavily in the Oscars this year, many might be surprised to hear that the movie was largely shot in Romania . Yet, with the film merely the latest in the series of big budget productions shot in Eastern Europe , Bucharest is now wondering how it can most effectively exploit its new fame on the silver screen, and boost tourism in the process.
In a somewhat controversial move, Transylvania was chosen as the location to shoot the movie because of its low cost in comparison to North Carolina and Virginia , making " Cold Mountain " the biggest foreign film project Romanians have ever witnessed. Local film producers told the OBG that Buena Vista and Miramax spent somewhere in the region of 30% of their $90m budget in Romania, bringing handsome revenue streams to local communities in Transylvania and to Romanian film production companies.
The film's director, Anthony Minghella , and Ian Smith, executive producer at Miramax, both returned to Brasov , around which the movie was filmed, on March 4 to thank the Romanian government and people for allowing them to film in their country.
"We stole a lot of beauty from Transylvania ," Minghella told foreign and local dignitaries. "' Cold Mountain ' marks a new beginning for the Romanian film industry."
How much of a new start depends on a variety of factors. Minghella told the OBG that the film was "proof to Hollywood producers that shooting films in Romania is a viable option," while admitting that " Romania was slightly buried in this film". However, "' Cold Mountain ' has helped to create lots of positive value, which cannot simply be expressed in dollars cashed during this project."
Yet dollars and cents undoubtedly remain one of the country's big draws. Vlad Paunescu , CEO of Romania's Castel Fil m Studios, told the OBG that "' Cold Mountain ' was a very important film project for Romania and Castel Fil ms". It certainly helped Castel , which is now the largest and longest-serving film production company in Romania , second only to MediaPro . Romanian film industry experts think Castel Fil ms made $3m-5m in profits from ' Cold Mountain ' project. The village of Rasnov in Transylvania , where much of the film was shot, is widely thought to have received around $600,000 for its role.
As Mark Percivel , managing director of Think Tank Romania , told the OBG, "The Romanian authorities should be under no illusion that film makers come to Romania primarily for economic reasons." It should, Percivel argued, come down to simple market economics. Foreign film makers can save up to 50% in costs by outsourcing film production to Romania . Now, there is talk of Bucharest becoming the "new Prague ".
"The perception of Romania has changed a lot," Andrei Boncea , general director of MediaPro Pictures told the OBG on March 10. " Prague opened the eyes of Hollywood to Eastern Europe and Romania is definitely in a surge as a film production destination. We're on the map."
Viorel Sergovic , founder and CEO of Silver Bullet, a Bucharest-based film production, focused on small- to medium-budget productions, agreed with Boncea . He told the OBG " Romania could very easily compete with Prague , but will need to keep its prices lower. If all goes well in 2004, we should see eight medium-size productions of $10m each arrive in Romania . By 2007 this number should double."
Movie industry analysts agree this is a time of enormous opportunity for the Romanian film industry. The industry could be worth around $240m by 2007, according to several film makers interviewed by the OBG.
Significant challenges remain ahead though. Improvements need to be made in areas such as training artistic directors, special effects, make up artists and sound specialists. As Colin McCabe, who was recently involved in both acting and producing a British full feature, "Modigliani", in Bucharest told the OBG, despite the success of " Cold Mountain ", "the Romanian film industry remains relatively immature and needs to raise its game to take advantage of this new window of opportunity".
McCabe emphasised the problem of "RQ" (Romanian Quotient) a concept which McCabe claimed "is hard for foreign film makers to understand and even harder to manage... they promise you they can do everything. There is a danger of foreign film makers being lured into Romania under false pretences."
Meanwhile, film may have spin offs in other areas - notably tourism. "If the Romanian tourist agencies were to launch a good marketing campaign they could use this to promote the beauty of Transylvania and Romania ," Percivel told the OBG. Yet, "Unfortunately, the government lacks a coherent strategy in tourism and it remains to be seen how much it will make of this latest opportunity."
Romania it is widely agreed has great undiscovered tourist attractions. In addition to slightly better known Transylvania , featured in " Cold Mountain ", it has access to the Black Sea , Danube Delta and some unique historical sites in Moldavia .
Last year, the Romanian government tried to galvanise the tourist industry by starting a Dracula Theme Park project in Transylvania . The project has since been surrounded by controversy. The park, according to government sources, was expected to attract more than 1m visitors annually and to generate revenues of some $27m per year.
This project, according to Percivel , is currently stalled, because no agreement could be reached on its authenticity or location.
Romania has had great difficulty in benefiting from its tourism potential. A recent Economist Intelligence Unit report gave earnings from international tourism last year of $400m, down from a peak of $590m in 1995. This compares with more than $4bn in neighbouring Hungary last year.
The authorities are now making efforts to change this, setting up an 18-strong network of tourism promotion offices abroad and spending large amounts on advertising and public relations campaigns. If the country is to really capitalise on such initiatives, though, perhaps it should take a fresher look at Romania through a film maker's eye. |
