The Babelsberg Film Studios near Berlin are currently experiencing a proper production boom. Carl Woebcken, chairman of the Studio Babelsberg AG, speaks of a “unique situation in the studios’ history since their privatisation in 1992”.

 

This summer five Hollywood-projects are simultaneously being produced in the German capital: German director Tom Tykwer is shooting “The International” with Naomi Watts, John Cusack is featuring in Jan de Bont’s action movie “Stopping Point” and Jared Leto in “Mr Nobody”. Meanwhile Tom Cruise is engaged in two massive projects: one is “Speed Racer”, the other the controversial “Valkyrie” dealing with Stauffenberg’s assassination attempt on Hitler. And the next project is already coming along: The film adaptation of “The Reader” with Nicole Kidman.

 

The German film world is busy too: Oscar winner Caroline Link is shooting her new movie “Im Winter ein Jahr” [literally “In winter one year”] and Bernd Eichinger is producing his “Baader-Meinhof-Komplex” on the Red Army Fraction, featuring Moritz Bleibtreu.

 

“Business is going so well that we were obliged to borrow cameras in Holland”, says Stefan Arndt from the Berlin-based production company X-Filme. Space is running short as well: “Despite us doubling the studio capacities in 2005, we had to rent supplementary studio area this year to satisfy the enormous demand coming from international and national film productions”, says Carl Woebcken.

 

The economically still weak Berlin-Brandenburg region cashes in on it though, financially and in terms of employment. “Speed Racer”’s sole budget amounts to 40 million EUR, of which two third are invested in the region.

Source: Berliner Morgenpost, August 5th 2007