ROMANIA: MEDIA PRO STUDIOS IN BUFTEA RISING FROM ASHES OF COMMUNIST BROADCASTING TO BECOME POPULAR CHOICE FOR INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORS

Record ID: 392675

  • Title: ROMANIA: MEDIA PRO STUDIOS IN BUFTEA RISING FROM ASHES OF COMMUNIST BROADCASTING TO BECOME POPULAR CHOICE FOR INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORS
  • Date: 1st April 2002
  • Summary: MEDIAPRO STUDIOS, BUFTEA, ROMANIA AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GATEWAY TO MEDIAPRO STUDIOS, BUFTEA, ROMANIA CLOSE-UP MEDIAPRO STUDIOS LOGO VARIOUS SWEEPERS CLEANING STUDIO ROADWAY (3 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF STUDIO BUILDINGS FROM LAKESIDE (2 SHOTS) SCU: (SOUNDBITE) English ANDREEA STANCULEANU SAYING: "In the past thirty years was done here about 700 films. In the seventies there was like 25 films each year. The studio has a great history in period kind of movies because you know all the cinematography in Eastern Europe was oriented on building history."
  • Embargoed: 16th April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUFTEA, ROMANIA
  • Country: Romania
  • Topics: Business,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACKIKVLCV5M3QPLUYO9CV2TKIW
  • Story Text: Tucked away in the Wallachia region of Romania, twenty kilometers north-west of Bucharest lies what's been the production base of the country's film-making industy since the sixties. Buftea Film Studios is now becoming a popular choice for international directors like Franco Zeffirelli and Constanin Costa-Gavros.
    Since 1959, when they opened, Buftea Film Studios has been at the centre of the nation's film industry. Over 700 full-length feature films were produced at the studios over the next thirty years. Typical of other facilities built in Eastern Europe at the time, they were part of a grand communist vision to build a Soviet Bloc Hollywood.
    The seventies were the studios most prolific era, a time when communist cinema was oriented towards building history. The studio props and costume stores pay homage to the period dramas shot at this time with their racks of armoury and stately costumes.
    After the Ceausescu regime fell in 1989 and with no support from the State, the studios fell into disrepair. A few movies were produced there at the beginning of the decade but by the time MediaPro arrived in 1997 they were in a very poor condition and nothing was happening.
    MediaPro, the country's largest broadcaster, originally came to Buftea to make television. After being there for a year the studio went on the market. The company made a successful bid and became the proud owners of the nation's cinematic heritage. With a vision to become one of the best facilities in Central and Eastern Europe and with the intention to kick start Romania's film industry, the company completely restored the facility and made a huge investment in technical equipment.
    The investment paid off. In the year 2000 two internationally renowned directors chose Buftea for their productions. Franco Zeffirelli and Greek-born French director Constantin Costa-Gavras.
    Zeffirelli's team first came to see the studios in 1999 for the shooting of his production, "Callas Forever". At the time MediaPro was already in production with Cost-Gavros' movie "Amen".
    The film, which explores the moral dilemmas faced by many under the Nazi dictatorship was a complicated and challenging production with a lot of construction that required many outside resources. This was enough to convince the producers that they were the perfect solution for "Callas Forever."
    MediaPro showed the extent of their flexibility when just three weeks before shooting was due to commence, Zeffirelli said he would like to stay at the studios during the filming.
    No problem! MediaPro decided to build him a house. The whole construction department set to work on building the perfect villa so's the director would be comfortable during the shooting. Almost over night they created a beautiful home by the lakeside with a view across the water.
    Likewise MediaPro were rewarded from the production. "Callas Forever", demanded a huge amount of skill and resources and raised the level of skills amongst the studio craftesmen.
    As well as facilitating foreign productions MediaPro are harnessing the enthusiasm of a new generation of home-grown film-makers. In the ninties when production died the industry's professional skills also disappeared. MediaPro have opened a media schoool to bring new talent up to speed, ready to contribute to the industry, many of the students crew the productions at Buftea, especially in the directing department Rather than challenge Prague or Buddhapest, two of the other top Eastern European studios, MediaPro say they want to expand the film industy in Eastern Europe. They are now planning a post production facility with state of the art equipment as well as a 3500 metre square studio, one of biggest in Europe.
    Over the years, thousands of film-makers have passed through the Buftea studio gates, their rich legacy remains in the store rooms which bulge with costumes and props from the many productions which have come to life here. If MediaPro have anything to do with it a lot more will be passing through the gates in the future.
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