ECONOMY

International film studio to expand to Thessaloniki

International film studio to expand to Thessaloniki

A major investment in Greece by an international film studio is set to be announced on Friday against the backdrop of the 2019 Thessaloniki International Film Festival, demonstrating that Greece is now on the radar of Hollywood’s major movie producers.

The investment concerns the expansion of Bulgarian studios Nu Boyana to Greece’s northern port city and is to be announced by the chief executive of Nu Boyana, Yariv Lerner, the founder of York Films, John Kalafatis, and the chief of the National Center of Audiovisual Media and Communications (EKOME), Panos Kouanis. Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis will attend the event.

Although the new Thessaloniki studios constitute an extension of those in Sofia, the investment also involves Greek-American Kalafatis’ New York-based company, whose portfolio includes major movie and TV productions such as “Godzilla,” “John Wick” and “Elementary.”

The new studios will be able to support large movie productions, with sources close to the deal speaking of projects worth 40-50 million euros, which the existing Greek infrastructure cannot support. Therefore the new studios in Thessaloniki will be Greece’s biggest yet – and among the biggest in the Balkans.
 

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