Hurray for 'Ollywood

Today's Top Stories - Monday December 17, 2007

Bangkok Post

Hurray for 'Ollywood

Oliver Stone has bought a plot of land between Bangkok and Pattaya as the first step to building a new movie studio in Thailand.

Foreign trade papers reported on Friday that Stone and producer David Winters hope to attract other moviemakers and stars to Thailand with the country's scenery and low costs.

Stone was recently forced to halt production of Pinkville, a Vietnam war movie about the My Lai massacre, because of the Hollywood writers' strike. That movie now is unlikely to be made.

It is unclear how much competition Olliewood would provide to existing Thai studios and facilities. The well-known Thai producer Santa Pestonji was the local producer for Pinkville, and has handled Thai production of numerous Hollywood movies, including major blockbusters.

According to the reports:

A friend of Stone's said: "He and David have found some land halfway between Bangkok and Pattaya and a studio is being built for use by the US and British film industry.

"Obviously the beautiful coastlines have always made perfect filming locales, but although it's one of the booming Pacific rim economies, it's also a relatively cheap place to make films and a place where extras can be employed at a reduced rate."

Although it's early days, the project already has been dubbed Olliewood.

Actor-turned-director Mel Gibson is planning a similar project in Costa Rica, where he hopes to lure other filmmakers to move their sets.

(BangkokPost.com, with reports)