The Greek island of Syros is set to become location for shooting movies, according to the following report by Kathimerini newspaper:
“It’s a miracle we managed to get a law that makes it easier to shoot movies in Greece passed within nine months,” says Pierre Economacos. The Greek American is familiar with the labyrinth that is Greek bureaucracy. Last summer on Myconos, Economacos met with a fellow Greek American who was working with Hollywood director Steven Bernstein to prepare a script for a political thriller. “They were preparing to head to Bulgaria to discuss filming the movie there,” says Economacos. “That’s when I stopped them and convinced them to come to Syros first.”
The invitation was no coincidence. Economacos splits his time between the US and Syros, and is familiar with the stunning landscapes, natural beauty and unique architecture of the Aegean island, where visitors often feel like they’re in a movie setting.
“Four days later, I greeted them at Syros port,” says Economacos, who had already spoken to the island’s mayor, Giorgos Marangos, about setting up a “plan of action” together. “We gave them an in-depth tour of the island,” says Economacos. Bernstein was mystified. “Here is Positano, down there it’s reminiscent of Paris, and over there of Prague,” he said enthusiastically as they were walking around the town of Ermoupoli.
The light of the island made a great impression on Bernstein, who appeared quite inspired by the location. At that moment, the award-winning director had an idea: to start a film school on Syros, which he himself would teach at along with his team. He also expressed a desire to create two permanent studios on the island for TV and movie productions.
Bernstein has experience transforming locations into meccas for filmmaking and production, as he’s done in Toronto and Vancouver. He’s also aware of how expensive it is to film in big cities. For instance, if you want to reserve a street in Paris for filming purposes, that’ll cost you about 80,000 euros.”
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RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Bild-by Hans Peter Schaefer License: CC-BY-SA
Source: ekathimerini.com
