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Backlot: Studio backlots will offer abundant settings for historical film projects.
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Studio gates: The Co Loa Film Studio renovation project will be completed by 2015. — File Photos | |
HA NOI — The Co Loa Film Studio on the outskirts of Ha Noi has undergone the three-year first phase of a major renovation and is ready to resume production on film and television projects later this year.
At the end of the first phase, a 400sq.m indoors studio has been built with up-to-date lighting, sound and camera systems at total cost of US$1.5 million, along with a 300sq.m building with make-up, costume and crew facilities on a 12.2ha site.
The Co Loa Film Studio was established in the 1960s and hosted the shooting of such classic Vietnamese films as Chung Mot Dong Song (Sharing the Same River) and Chi Tu Hau (Ms Tu Hau).
However, the studio was abandoned during the 1980s and sat idle until 2008, when the culture ministry approved a project to upgrade the studio at a total cost of $5 million from the State budget.
When the final phase is completed in 2015, the studio will be able to produce up to 30 feature films per year, with the number to rise to 35 by 2020. South Korean experts have helped prepare for the second phase of the project, which will include an underwater studio, outdoor lots, a sound recording studio and screening rooms.
Studio director Nguyen Van Nhiem said the facility, at first, would serve production on historical films, many of which have previously been shot abroad in China or South Korea, where better production facilities were available.
Nhiem also said he hoped the facility would become a tourist attraction similar to studios in China and South Korea. — VNS