Greek Hollywood In the making - New studios being set up

Greece is already acquiring the first studio of international standards in "Platania" of Thermi Thessaloniki, an investment of more than 30 million euros, thanks to the American Millennium Media and the company "Vasilika Thermis" associated with the film production company Nu Boyana Hellenic. It is noted that the company "Vasilika Thermis" and Nu Boyana Hellenic belong to the Greek businessman Yiannis Kalafatis and his partner Yariv Lerner who controls Millennium Media, one of the largest independent film production companies in Hollywood.

Antonio Banderas in Thessaloniki

It seems that the post-production studio for films, videos and television programs in Elliniko is also in the works, while these days the public consultation on the "Greek Hollywood", which will be implemented by the company, is being completed. Then, the decision of the Interministerial Committee for Strategic Investments (DESE) is awaited for the inclusion of the 50 million euro investment in the status of strategic investments, in order to start the project. It is noted that the project is expected to create 110 new jobs, according to the submitted business plan.

As has become known, by this time, the film production studio in Thermi (in the old Kordogiannis granaries, which are located on the Thessaloniki-Polygyros road), will have a total area of 11,184 sq.m. and will have outdoor shooting areas of 12,376 sq.m. At the same time, the second post-production facility will be located on an area owned by the company "Vasilika Thermis" in Elliniko, with a total area of 3,511 sq.m., near the area of Lamda Development.

 Attractive destination

In recent years, Greece has become an attractive destination for film productions (such as "The Enforcer" starring Antonio Banderas, "The Expendables 4" with Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone and "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" with Daniel Craig). This happens also because of the investment incentives (cash rebate), which correspond to a grant from EKOME of 40% of the eligible costs.

In this context, some time ago, the Economic and Industrial Research Foundation (IOBE) had calculated that if, every year, 20 low-budget films, of the order of 450,000 euros each, were shot in the country, the gross domestic product (GDP) would increase by 14.2 million euros. If 25 million euros were spent in Greece for the needs of a production, the GDP would increase by 39 million euros and 755 jobs would be created during the filming, while the economic benefits are maximized if the impact on tourism from the screening of the films is taken into account. areas where the filming takes place.