Bringing Israel into the reel world

August 4, 2008 - 6:46 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Movies, Pop Culture 

Rambo!Loads of international movies have been shot in Israel over the years, but most of them fall into one of three categories: one, necessary location shoots due to site-specific content (Schindler’s List, Exodus, The Order); two, Israeli producers like schlock-meister Menachem Golan were involved (The Ambassador, Delta Force); or three, vaguely Middle Eastern terrain with West-friendly infrastructure was helpful (Not Without my Daughter, Rambo III).

A recent item on Ynet even itemizes some of the influxes to Israel’s financial system that these shoots have meant:

Movies that have already been filmed in Israel include Rambo III, which was filmed here in 1986 and raked in NIS 14 million ($4 million) for the Israeli economy, The Assignment with Ben Kingsley and Donald Sutherland which contributed $3.5 million to the Israeli market and Iron Eagle, filmed in 1991, which brought in $6 million.

The great Internet Movie Database lists 916 productions as having taken place here – 164 of which were shot on location in Jerusalem alone [http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Jerusalem,%20Israel&&heading=18], although many of those listed are made-for-TV and/or for Israeli audiences only, so the stats should be taken with a grain of salt.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Matthew Kalman, whose award-winning stand up comedy-themed documentary Circumcise Me was recently shot in Jerusalem, says that the city makes for a desirable movie production location,

…because people here are so used to having cameras and television crews around them at all times. It was almost like having a professional cast of extras to work with.

With Hollywood’s restricting union laws and arguably stifling status as a production incubation hotbed, more and more filmmakers are enjoying attractive terms offered to shoot overseas. The result is that English-speaking lands like the UK and Canada have become attractive destinations for movie making in a trend called “runaway production.”

And the Knesset believes that Israel is poised to get in on the runaway production action. This Thursday, heeding advice from the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles, the legislative body is expected to pass a bill offering significant and competitive kickbacks to productions willing to shoot here:

The bill includes clauses such as a 20% decrease in the cost of movie productions whose expenditures are NIS 8 million (roughly $2.3 million) or more; a 15% decrease in the production cost for movies that were co-produced and where foreigners spent NIS 4 million (about $1.15 million) or more in Israel and value-added tax benefits for production services given to foreigners for producing movies in Israel.

With many West-friendly, more-or-less-English-language-ready nations (Hungary, South Africa) jumping into the runaway production game, it’s unclear what kind of impact this law might have. But it does show that our legislators are willing to keep up with the times and explore economic opportunities in keeping with the latest global entertainment business trends.

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