356 Communications, the Media and Information Technology
To facilitate location filming in Hong Kong, the office has obtained agreements from over 3 396 organisations, including government departments, on the use of their premises for location filming, and has published reference materials on locations for the industry. The office also provides a centralised service for assisting the film industry in matters of a more complicated nature such as location work that requires lane closures or special permits. In 2007, it dealt successfully with 707 such requests. The office acted as the coordinator in the vetting process for film industry parking applications, and processed 124 such applications during the year, all of which were approved. In 2007, the office also provided coordination services to process applications to use pedestrian precincts and to hire police for intermittent traffic control for location filming.
To promote Hong Kong films in the international market, the office assisted the overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office the organisation of Hong Kong Film Festivals in major cities in the United States, Australia, Singapore, Japan and China and promoted Hong Kong as an ideal city for location filming at the Busan International Film Commission and Industry Showcase held in South Korea. In 2007, 139 overseas film crews, including the production teams of the Hollywood blockbuster movie: Batman - The Dark Knight, the French films: / Come with the Rain and Largo Winch, and the US science fiction: Push, carried out location filming in Hong Kong.
The office is also responsible for licensing special effects operators and issuing permits for the discharge of special effects materials for the film and entertainment industry. In 2007, it processed 3 174 such applications.
Financial Support
The Government reactivated the Film Development Fund (FDF) in 2005 to provide financial support for projects conducive to the long-term development of the local film industry. By the end of June 2007, the revived FDF had allocated about $15 million for sponsoring 13 projects in six major categories, namely training courses, seminars, surveys and studies, data compilation, award schemes, and sponsorship for Hong Kong films nominated to participate in overseas film festivals.
In July 2007, the Government injected $300 million into the FDF and expanded its scope to finance small-to-medium budget film productions. The expanded FDF aims to encourage more commercial investment in film productions, create a larger mass of film activity and more employment opportunities, and assist the film industry to revitalise and develop further. Details of application procedures for film production financing were announced in October 2007.
A Film Guarantee Fund (FGF) was also established in April 2003 to assist local companies to obtain loans from local lending institutions for film production. It also serves to develop a film-financing infrastructure in Hong Kong. So far, the FGF has provided loan guarantees totalling $23.67 million for 11 film projects.
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