Culture Minister: We need to attract world's top filmmakers to Kazakhstan
According to him, this will contribute to the development of tourism and other economic sectors, and the country will also benefit in terms of generating investment.
Presenting the Draft Law "On Cinematography" at the Majilis (the lower house of the Kazakh Parliament), Mukhamediuly cited an example of Universal Studios, an American film company that had a wonderful experience in attracting over 1 billion tourists and raising hundreds of billions of dollars as investment every year due to its additional entertainment service.
The minister stressed that the main goal is to go beyond making films for the country's audience and one-off successful exhibitions at international festivals.
"It is necessary to make films for wide international distribution and encourage the major filmmaking companies to Kazakhstan, following the example of Western and Eastern Europe, Canada, New Zealand, etc.," Arystanbek Mukhamediuly emphasized.
The head of the Ministry added that filming The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, Games of Thrones, Avatar in remote islands of New Zealand boosted an incredible inflow of tourists accompanied by huge capital injections. Besides, millions of fans go to the iconic Harry Potter film locations in the UK, and, as result, tourists spent $1.9 billion in one year alone.
"Kazakhstan has all conditions necessary for making ambitious films with the world's leading filmmakers. The political stability, interethnic harmony, and the unique landscape and climate with four peculiar seasons are our primary advantages," said Arystanbek Mukhamediuly.
The Minister also recalled that within the visit of the President of Kazakhstan to the United States (January 17-19 of this year), at the meeting with the U.S. top entrepreneurs, the Motion Picture Association of America expressed the interest of Hollywood and American companies in filming in Kazakhstan.
"We are now actively conducting consultations and negotiations with the management teams of such companies as Warner Bros. Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures Corporation, to name but a few. Our partners from the U.S., India, Turkey, and other countries are ready to start filming in Kazakhstan as soon as the Law on Cinematography with the conditions appropriate for this is adopted," Arystanbek Mukhamediuly concluded.