Seaside studio bows

Spain's Ciudad must lure int'l shoots

By JOHN HOPEWELL, JOHN HOPEWELL

MADRID -- Europe has another mega film studio. On Oct. 19, the 130-ton doors of soundstage 5 at Spain's Ciudad de la Luz clunked shut for filming on "La dama boba," a spirited Spanish 17th-century romantic comedy.

Also booked at the new studios are Vicente Penarrocha's Guantanamo-set "Arritmia," with Rupert Evans, and "Teresa," starring Paz Vega as a 16th-century mystic, shooting in late November.

Located near Alicante in eastern Spain, the Ciudad studios cost E270 million ($324 million). They're described by architect Gary Bastien, who also designed the Los Angeles Center Studios, as the most advanced in Europe.

When finished, the Ciudad will offer nine stages plus a triple whammy of high-tech services, a deep-water tank and two large backlots, one on a promontory over the glimmering Mediterranean.

With its art nouveau facade, marble halls and backlot fiber-optic connections, it's definitely an impressive undertaking. But the question is whether Europe can support another major studio complex.

The Ciudad bows in a highly competitive sector. While they may host blockbuster film shoots, Europe's studios have moderate turnovers and tight margins. Berlin's Babelsberg Studios estimate full-year revenues at $72 million. Close to break-even, Babelsberg hasn't turned a profit since privatization in 1992.

London's Pinewood-Shepperton suffered half year net losses of $201,000. Discouraged by a weak dollar and uncertainty about future U.K. tax breaks, big productions increasingly seek out Hungary, which offers 20% tax rebates, Romania and Bulgaria, which have dirt-cheap labor, or cheap Morocco, stand-in for the ancient world.

Spain's Ciudad will need to carve a market niche. That means three things: competitive rates, completing the water tank and, most importantly, attracting a high-profile shoot. The first few Spanish shoots amount to trial runs: On "Dama," says producer Edmundo Gil, the soundstages were free and travel subsidized.

According to Jose Luis Olaizola, business director at Aguamarga Producciones, which runs the Ciudad, its facilities will be 30% cheaper than Pinewood-Shepperton and Cinecitta and 5% below Barrandov's rates.

Bastien's firm soon will complete the water tank's design.

The studio's in talks with Pathe to host "Asterix at the Olympic Games" and with Vin Diesel for his passion project "Hannibal."

Ciudad's weak spot is Alicante's lack of a local talent base for extras, technicians and set builders. At present, a big shoot would have to fly in multiple technicians, at a large cost. "We'll need a minimum two to four years to create any technical critical mass," Olaizola says.

Hence the short-term aggressive price discounting.

Beyond that, the studio might resort to the traditional Spanish fallback, the state, tapping some kind of local production subsidies.

Valencia's regional government has picked up the whole tab for building Ciudad. It won't want an undertaking of this scope to lie idle.