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Matthew Vella
Hollywood’s manna is in town as shopkeepers make takings of some Lm3,000 each to keep their shops closed whilst Steven Spielberg’s film on the 1972 Munich Olympic’s attacks by Black September are being filmed in Malta.
Retailers and shopkeepers in Valletta and Bugibba pocketed some Lm3,000 each to stay out of the way of Spielberg’s crew and keep their shops shut, this newspaper is informed, as film location managers dished out thousands of liri to secure areas around Malta to themselves.
Local councils were also on the take. St Paul’s Bay mayor Paul Bugeja confirmed that his council ‘accepted’ a Lm1,500 donation to help in traffic management.
Valletta local council did not accept any donation although they were offered it, mayor Paul Borg Olivier said, who said his council believes in promoting the film industry in Malta. The council had been working with the production team for two years providing it with information and logistical support for their shoots in Valletta.
Instead, it gave Spielberg a hefty 75 per cent discount on the fees they were owed under the Trading Licences Act, which lays down a Lm1 per square metre charge for space that is taken up by the entire production crew, including filming and the setting up of marquees and trailers.
Spielberg’s crew took up 1,200 square metres of Valletta space for ten days, taking the bill up to Lm12,000, but having a sizeable chunk – some Lm9,000 – knocked off their tab.
So it has been a field-day for shopkeepers who landed in Spielberg’s path, although former Malta film commissionr, Winston Azzopardi, warns the exorbitant fees negotiated with the retailers could scare off low-budget moviemakers.
“A similar experience was when I suggested producer Colin Wilson should have a local man to act as location manager for the film Troy. It was never taken up and a number of people actually took advantage by asking for exorbitant sums to give the film crew their space.”
Even Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier did not deny that some people “could have tried to make a quick buck” out of Spielberg’s brief visit. Borg Olivier said his council did not negotiate any sums for Valletta outlets. “I will not get into the question of what these amounts were.”
Oliver Mallia, Malta’s current film commissioner, says the commission is equally concerned about the fact that producers have been faced with situations of “extortion”.
“We cannot solve everything. But we do our best, because biting the hand that feeds you is not ideal for Malta. As a commission we are concerned and we do our best to actually help location managers negotiate market prices with suppliers, because million-budget or not, there is obviously a budget line to respect for every film.”
Shopkeepers were free to negotiate their sums with Spielberg’s location manager – not a local – who also called the Malta Film Commission to intervene in certain situations.
MaltaToday is reliably informed that Bugibba retailers upped their prices in a bid to be able to negotiate downwards to a decent Lm1,000 payment – Spielberg’s crew accommodated them with a handsome Lm3,000.
Oliver Mallia however said the film commission does not negotiate on behalf of producers in such situations, except in the case of excessive payments. “If the company is happy paying those fees there is nothing we can do about it.”
Mallia said he was also involved personally in securing a respectable price on certain negotiations. “In some cases we managed, in others we didn’t. But we also managed to compromise in certain cases. If we can control certain expenses, I think we would be giving a good example in a bid to promote Malta. That is our job. We facilitate the work for film production companies and limit the bureaucracy.”
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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