Bollywood goes to Austria, Tirol and Innsbruck
Bringing Austria closer to Indian audiences :
The Producers Guild of India in association with Robinville Intech representing Innsbruck Tourism, Cine Tirol and Location Austria organized an event titled “Bollywood goes to Austria, Tirol and Innsbruck”. A panel discussion highlighted Austria as the preferred destination for Bollywood film productions and the significant rise of Indian tourists visiting Austria in 2017.
“Since 2015 representation of Austrian business and tourism interests have soared in India however, the most significant game changer was the emergence of Bollywood in Austria in a noticeable way”, said Ishvinder Maddh, Managing Director Robinville Intech at the event. Uniting various fraternities, the event witnessed participation from film, travel and media industries.
The Chief Guest at the event, the Austrian Ambassador to India H.E. Brigitte Öppinger-Walchshofer, at the event said, “When Bollywood searches for new overseas locations for shooting films, Austria is very well placed to meet high expectations. The country offers everything from beautiful mountain scenery, deep forests and rolling green hills to romantic castles and lavish palaces. To film in Austria also ensures to work with excellent infrastructure. The crews might work in conditions of deep snow high up in the Alps but the cafés of Innsbruck, Salzburg or Vienna are just a short hop away from mountain glaciers or other beautiful sets for Indian films. Bollywood is more than welcome in Austria. Let us intensify this relationship and by that not only the one from country to country or between institutions but the one from people to people.”
Dharma Productions with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2015, Star Plus prime-time show Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil , Onir’s promo of the same show showcased Nordkette mountain and cable cars in a prominent way and, more recently, the shooting of Yash Raj Films Tiger Zinda Hai in March 2017, slated for release on 22 Dec 2017, is set to open Austria to the Indian masses.
Notable movie director Ali Abbas Zafar said, “The experience of shooting in the stunning Austrian Alps full of fresh beautiful snow, cold temperatures and peaceful ambience was an experience in itself. The abundance of locations in the pristine alpine mountains made them ideal for our shooting sequences. In fact, these visuals linger in a certain way on-screen and make a stronger impact on the viewer.” He further said, “Austria is known for its art, culture and music and this cultural heritage enables visually rich content that is unparalleled. The imperial architecture of Innsbruck and the Old Town Centre will feature for the first time in cinema history in Tiger Zinda Hai.”
Speaking about Austria, Karan Johar said, “The alpine flair and imperial architecture in Innsbruck, the funicular to ski slopes in holiday villages, open green meadows, crisp mountain air and the wildly romantic mountaineering villages fascinated me to Austria. Tourism to Austrian destinations is growing exponentially as we speak. I’m happy that Bollywood is engaging the Indian traveller to be seen more frequently in Austrian locations wanting more from each experience.”
Experts from the Austrian Tourism and film representation organizations, namely – Ms. Julia Schmoelz – FISA/Location Austria, Mr. Thomas Fuchs – Cine Tirol, Esther Wilhelm – Innsbruck Tourism, Ursula Keplinger and Andreas Payer – Creative Creatures were also present at the event.
Earlier in May 2017, Shiamak Davar visited Vienna on invitation from the Indian Ambassador to Austria Dr. Renu Pall to showcase ‘Bollywood in Austria’ at the Concordia Ball held at the prestigious Rathaus in Vienna. These events have paved the way further for Bollywood to the Austrian and India media.
About the Producers Guild of India
The Producers Guild of India Limited is an autonomous non-profit entertainment trade body comprising of industry stakeholders. The Guild assumes varied roles of significance in the paradigm of the Indian Film and Television industry such as being a principal negotiator with the Government on various critical issues, industry development, resolving intra and external trade disputes of the industry, cinema tourism, Co-productions, liaising with foreign delegations and arranging conclaves for the benefit of its members. Established as The Film Producers Guild of India Ltd. in 1954 by the stalwarts of the Indian film industry including Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, Sasadhar Mukerji, B.N. Sircar, V. Shantaram, Vijay Bhatt, B.R. Chopra, the Guild also incorporated the television sector in its fold in 2004 and assumed its current nomenclature as The Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd. The Guild embraced the recently popular concept of “Cinema Tourism” wherein cinema shooting in locations is essentially used as a catalyst and driver to promote tourism in that area. It has instituted an Annual Guild Awards for excellence in film and television held annually – an award by the industry, for the industry and of the industry.
About Robinville Intech Pvt. Ltd.
ROBINVILLE Intech Pvt. Ltd. incorporated in 2009 represents Central and East European (CEE) tourism boards, sightseeing attractions, hotels and shopping outlets besides being the single point of contact for Bollywood film production projects in Austria. We showcase aspects and beauty of Central and East European touristic regions and unfold possibilities for efficient destination management through our partner network across Austria, Germany, Croatia, Czech, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.
About Location Austria/FISA
The national film commission Location Austria is designed to promote Austria as a major location for international film and TV productions and serves as initial contact point for foreign production companies of movies, documentaries, series or commercials. It offers a broad range of complimentary services before and during filming in Austria, for example informing about production conditions and financial incentives, scouting locations, obtaining film permits or intermediating between the national and international industries and production partners.
Location Austria has serviced highly acclaimed international film projects including Tiger Zinda Hai, James Bond – Spectre, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Mission Impossible 5 – Rogue Nation, Point Break and many others in the last few years. As a member of Filming Europe – European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN), Location Austria is integrated into a European-wide network of more than 90 film commissions. Location Austria is a department of ABA – Invest in Austria, the national investment promotion consultancy, and was founded as a non-profit agency in 1997. Together with Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws) Location Austria is also responsible for the handling of FISA – Film Industry Support Austria, a subsidy programme by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy provided with an annual budget of EUR 7.5 million.
Funding is possible for cinema films in case of national productions, Austrian-foreign co-productions as well as service productions with a non-repayable grant of up to 25%. In recognition of the economic impact of film productions, the objective of FISA is to escalate the quality, the attractiveness, and therefore the international distribution and competitiveness of Austrian films and co-productions.
About Cine Tirol
Cine Tirol Film Commission is the first contact for the realisation of feature films, documentaries, commercials, music videos as well as photo shootings in Tirol. It sees itself as the driving force of the film land Tirol: all activities aim to attract film productions to carry out their projects in Tirol in order to trigger positive effects in the economic, media and film touristic sense. Furthermore, those cinematic inputs achieve an increase in publicity and popularity of the location brand Tirol. So far, 86 Indian film productions have been shot in Tirol including ‘Chal Mere Bhai’ and Yuvraaj both Salman Khan starrers.
Cine Tirol promotes the film land Tirol through marketing and communication activities as well as national and international networking events, offering all filmmakers an absolutely professional location service to find the perfect film locations in Tirol. Selected film projects can also receive support through a Production Incentive. Moreover, the Cine Tirol Team is available for advice or assistance and is pleased to provide extensive information about the location in the heart of the Alps.
About Innsbruck Tourism
Innsbruck Tourismus tourism board represents Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian Tirol region as well as 40 holiday villages in the town’s immediate vicinity, generating 3.2 million annual overnight stays and approx. 5 million day visitors. With roughly 60,000 overnight stays from India (growth in the last year by 18%), the Indian market has reached a top 10 position among Innsbruck region’s key markets.
Having hosted the Olympic Games three times (1964, 1976, 2012), Innsbruck is well known for its significant range of winter and summer sports: skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, tobogganing, ice sports as well as hiking, climbing, cycling, mountain biking or golf. Furthermore, Innsbruck will be host to many international sports events like the UCI Road World Championships in Road Cycling 2018, the IFSC World Championships in Climbing 2018 and the ski jumping competitions of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Seefeld 2019. What makes Innsbruck so special is its unique mix of alpine urban experiences – in a place where the mountains meet the valley, and the city is one with nature. Right from the city centre the Nordkette mountain range can be reached in 20 minutes by cable car soaring up to 2,300 metres offering spectacular views into the Karwendel nature park as well as down to the imperial city of Innsbruck. From sunny alpine plateaus, clear mountain lakes, wildly romantic mountaineering villages to the amenities of the biggest city in western Austria, the Innsbruck region has everything to offer.
Apart from the mountains surrounding the city, the main attractions are the Golden Roof, the medieval historic quarter, Schloss Ambras Castle with the Renaissance ‘Chamber of Art and Curiosities’, the Imperial Court Palace and the Court Church with a Renaissance cenotaph, the tomb of Emperor Maximilian I, the Bergisel ski jump designed by Zaha Hadid and the Swarovski Crystal Worlds.
‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ was filmed in different locations in the Innsbruck region, in alpine Praxmar and Kühtai with beautiful mountain scenery and winter bliss, in the historic city centre of Innsbruck as well as in the Imperial Court Palace of Innsbruck. This region offers roughly 19,000 beds ranging from 5-star spa resorts to privately run B&Bs, holiday apartments, youth hostels, camping sites or farm stays. Innsbruck is Austria’s second-largest congress and convention venue with Congress Innsbruck, Messe Innsbruck and Congresspark Igls.
About Creative Creatures
Creative Creatures GmbH was founded in the year 1997 by Dr. Ursula Keplinger-Forcher and her husband Mag. Reinhard Forcher. Mainly for international clients Creative Creatures offer full service production from budgeting to taking responsibility for the entire shooting process in Austria. Creative Creatures support international film productions in the process of fund-raising in Austria on national, regional and local level and in implementing and processing the VAT refunding for international clients in Austria.
Since 1997 Creative Creatures have been part of many large and small, national and international film projects, amongst others almost 30 Indian film projects, have gained a lot of experience by doing so and have made friends all over the world. Creative Creatures’ latest clients from Bollywood have been Yashraj Films (Tiger Zida Hai), Dharma Productions (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) and Balaji Telefilms & Star Plus (Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil).
