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Matthew Vella
The owner of Peppi’s kiosk in Sliema, Silvio Zammit, is planning to take none other than Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to court after his production company reneged on a verbal agreement to use Zammit’s commercial premises for filming.
Film Commissioner Oliver Mallia has refused to comment on Zammit’s tentative to get the Lm3,000 he was promised only verbally by Westlake Films, who wanted to use his commercial premises for filming.
Mallia was asked for his comments on other cases where shopkeepers and retailers were trying to milk as much as possible from Spielberg’s budget to film in different spots over the island.
Two weeks ago, MaltaToday reported film commissioner Oliver Mallia as saying that the commission was 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.”
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.”
Spielberg is currently on the island to direct his latest film on the 1972 Munich Olympics attacks by the Black September and the Mossad’s hunt for the Palestinian terrorists.
Zammit has informed Westlake Films he will be suing for Lm3,000 after the company informed him of a change of heart in their filming plans, and that his establishment would no longer be required.
In a letter to Zammit, location manager Mark Somner wrote to him a week before he was scheduled to hand over the premises for just two days, to cancel all arrangements due to “an artistic change on the director’s part.”
Somner informed Zammit the change was “sadly part and parcel of filming and in no way reflects on the businesses of Balluta Bay… I wish you well and once again apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
According to Zammit’s lawyer Melvyn Mifsud, Zammit went through a lot of preparation to store foods and inform employees not to show up for work, three weeks ahead of the planned filming date, when the two sides brokered a nifty Lm3,000 deal.
No written agreement however exists on the deal, this newspaper is informed. Despite the agreement in question being a verbal one, Zammit is still planning to go ahead with court action to get his Lm3,000.
It has been a field day for shopkeepers who closed down their shops for Spielberg, who used premises for his new film, rumoured to be entitled ‘Munich’.
Local councils were also on the take in order to help Spielberg’s production team. Valletta local council however offered the director a 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.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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