DOZENS OF ACTORS, PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS WERE IN PARIS TO INAUGURATE “A CITY OF CINEMA”
While in Rome we witness helpless the shut down of the prestigious Cinecittà studios (with all the history, the memories and the glory it has brought to Italy, to open yet again some useless shopping mall) in France, Luc Besson opens the biggest movie studios in Europe.
The “Cité du Cinéma” gives access to nine different sets from 600 to 2000 meters on a surface of 6.5 hectares. Moreover, on the Cité we can find recording studios, laboratories, editing rooms, workshops, and a screening room for 500 people. This way, directors and producers have everything they need to make their movie without going out of the studios, which is the aim of Luc besson: capturing a piece of the 2 billion dollars American spend in Europe every year and increase the 3% of France.
For the launching of the studios, Besson has invited a lot of people who are in the business and they were all present to support their friend and colleague. International stars like Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones who are actually shooting Besson’s new movie Malavita in the Cité, Whoopi Goldberg, Fox CEO Jim Gianopulos… French icons Jean Dujardin, Sophie Marceau and Jamel Debbouze also came to this event; an event that represents a bold bet for Luc. In fact, he spent 20 million euro to buy an old electricity factory and make it ready to be transformed in this huge Hollywood-type studio.
The revolutionary and quite good idea of this project is the free school for people who don’t have any diploma but want to be in the movies. Anyone who is between 18 and 25 can apply but only the “Happy Few” will be a part of it. The best are selected for a FREE program where they will learn everything there is to know about the job of a director or a scriptwriter. “Education should always be free in order to be accessible to all and to avoid missing a real talent” actress Mélanie Laurent said.
We totally agree with her, and to make sure they find the real deals, three exams have to be passed before being accepted in the school. The selection is really hard then, but the quality of the student body will be of a high level. After all, talent is what counts, isn’t it?
Flavia Nicolò
