Tax Incentives Aren’t The Only Reason Why ‘The Substance,’ ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Shot in France
variety.comElsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller “Emilia Pérez,” Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance” and Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s epic adventure “The Count of Monte Cristo” have more in common than the fact that they’re directed by French filmmakers.
Despite being set in Mexico and Los Angeles, respectively, “Emilia Pérez” and “The Substance” both shot entirely in France, for the most part in studios in Paris.
France has been able to attract, host and retain a wide range of local and international productions, primarily thanks to its locations and crews, even if its tax incentives aren’t as competitive as in other popular filming destinations in Europe, such as London and Prague.
At a panel discussion at the American French Film Festival in Los Angeles, “The Count of Monte Cristo” producer Dimitri Rassam; Jay Roewe, SVP of production planning and incentives at HBO Max and WBD; L.A.-based producer and filmmaker Jon Avnet; and Laurent Kleindienst, VP of strategy and development at Paris TSF Studios discussed the cost-effectiveness and creative advantages of filming in France. “The Count of Monte Cristo,” a sprawling period movie adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ literary masterpiece, has been compared to “golden-era Hollywood epics” by Variety, but it was produced with a budget of roughly $50 million — about a third of what a U.S.
Read more on variety.com
