MUMBAI: It‘s quiet out there, too damn quiet as this year‘s first quarter for film production collapsed in on itself here, according to statistics from the UK Film Council.
Figures from the government-backed organization make for uncomfortable reading for indie producers with just 19 pictures with budgets over ?500,000 ($800,000) going into production in the first three months of 2009, compared to 31 in the same period last year.
The collapse in movies being made comes — according to the Council and indie observers alike — on the back of a continuing fall in co-productions here and a slump in movies backed overseas coming to the UK to shoot.
The research shows that only two co-productions mounted shoots in the first quarter, compared to seven in 2008.
But the factoids from inward investment projects — those titles which include pictures backed by the U.S. studios — will provide a fillip for those producers working with Hollywood.
While half the number of projects landed here in Q1 this year — just four compared to eight during 2008‘s first quarter — the combined U.K. spend of ?185.7 million ($300 million) this year outshone January to March‘s tally in 2008 of ?142.6 million.
The uptick in spend is down to big budget spends from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Ridley Scott‘s Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett starrer Robin Hood
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