Toronto-based film company Cinespace Studios has announced that it is exploring possible expansion in Greece, according to a statement by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The announcement comes following a meeting between Cinespace Studios President Alex Pissios and Kostas Fragogiannis, Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy.
The meeting took place at Cinespace’s massive Chicago studios on February 21, 2020 during Fragogiannis’ visit to the United States.
Fragogiannis pitched the Greek government’s investment-friendly programs and highlighted the Greek economy’s turn-around.
According to a government statement, “Greece is an attractive destination for the audiovisual industry, through a number of development incentives it offers, and it has natural diversity with sunshine, a variety of landscapes, monuments and tourism infrastructure that make it ideal for carrying out such investments.”
In his meeting with the company’s president, Mr. Fragogiannis also referred to the potential for linking educational institutions with the film industry, starting with professional education and training through programs linked to the film industry’s personnel needs.
Pissios expressed his satisfaction with the change the new government has made for attracting major investments and the fact that Greece is a destination with a large number of comparative advantages.
Cinespace’s film studios are the largest in the U.S. outside of Los Angeles. The company’s facilities include 30 stages (each of which can house more than one set) and 20 more stages in Toronto, Canada, where the company was founded.
The Toronto branch is the only studio in the world that hosts productions from the five main digital platforms, all under the same roof: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney/Fox and Apple TV.
“Cinespace remains optimistic about Greece’s progress and we believe that the government is ready to contribute to the development of a full-fledged film industry in the country,” Pissios said in a statement.
“We just got back from new meetings with the major production companies in Los Angeles, which are very familiar with the advantages of film productions in Greece, and so we are ready to visit the country again to explore more investment opportunities,” he added. “Besides that, Cinespace is closely associated with Faliro House Productions S.A., which is headed by the film industry veteran Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, with the aim of making this company the pipeline for promoting increased film services in Greece.”
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that “Our homeland is at the beginning of a new period of growth that began following last July’s elections. Our government guarantees and ensures the political stability, economic growth and social cohesion required for large investments.”
He added: “The talks on Cinespace’s creating film studios in our country show how entrepreneurs around the world are changing their minds about Greece. Greece is making a comeback, and emblematic investments like this make it clear how robust our homeland is in terms of opportunities.”
The full statement from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs is here.
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