The Region of Western Greece closer to the audiovisual productions – The function of Patras Film Office has started
"We are opening a window to the future. We utilize the dynamics of culture and tourism. With institutional and financial tools, we proceed to support film and audiovisual productions. We are bringing a great change to our Region, forming new pillars of economic growth ".
With these words, the Regional Governor of Western Greece Apostolos Katsifaras announced today, Wednesday, January 30, 2019, the function of Patras Film Office and referred to a series of initiatives aimed at attracting audiovisual productions in the Regional Units of Etoloakarnania, Achaia and Ilia.
During the press conference, the Regional Governor, among others, referred to the final formulation of the announcement for the action "Support of Creative Enterprises", funded by the Operational Program "Western Greece 2014-2020" with 7.800.000 euros, but also the participation of the Region of Western Greece in the European project CIAK with the objective of exploiting the potential of tourism through cinema.
Continuing, the Deputy Regional Governor of Regional Development and Entrepreneurship, Konstantinos Karpetas, stated that already through CIAK there is an open invitation until February 18, 2018 for the funding of ten short films. "We are combining culture with tourism in the context of the integrated planning that we have prepared, aiming of making Western Greece more recognizable and visitable. "All the indicators related to the tourist flow in the area are already encouraging," he stressed.
From his position, the President of the National Center for Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) Panos Kouanis congratulated the Region of Western Greece, as - as he said - it was one of the first to respond to the invitation of EKOME for the creation of the Film Office. In fact, Western Greece will be among the regions that will be screened abroad through a large project to attract film and audiovisual productions. "The goal is to make Greece filmfriendly (cinema-friendly) and Western Greece filmdestination," he pointed out.
The President of the Association of Independent Audiovisual Producers (SAPOE) Panos Papachatzis referred to the dynamics that the cinema has for the tourist promotion of areas that have been filmed, emphasizing that Western Greece has excellent areas for all kinds of productions and cited as an example the mountains that are suitable for horror movies.
The Director of the Hellenic Film Center, Venia Vergou, pointed out that in addition to financial incentives, the diversity of the regions of Western Greece has the potential to attract the lucrative film industry, which is associated with hundreds of people employed in the working staff of the film productions.
Stelios Kotionis, Producer of the film "Echoes of the Past" / CEO of Foss Productions, referred to the advantages of the region, but also to the impressions of foreign actors about Kalavrita and Western Greece, emphasizing that the region is expected to become a tourist destination through cinema.
The Film Office function
The Film Office of the Region of Western Greece is housed at the junction of Amerikis and Egiou Streets in Patras, in order to constitute a small cinema center. It is a hub for managing cinematography and photography requests, as well as connecting professionals and organizations involved in the execution of an audiovisual production.
The capabilities and new opportunities that are created in Western Greece were analyzed in the round table discussion that took place at the headquarters of the Region.
Excerpt from the speech of the Regional Governor Apostolos Katsifaras at the link: youtu.be/pPz2yIxXFJg
Excerpt from the speech of the Deputy Regional Governor of Regional Development and Entrepreneurship Konstantinos Karpetas at the link: youtu.be/KhbER_Rc8UM
Excerpt from the speech of the President of the National Center for Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) Panos Kounis at the link: youtu.be/V099voH_-xQ
General shots at the link: youtu.be/QXo9_S6IqZo