The State invests 22.5 million in the cinema sector in Marseille

• The Minister of Culture formalized this Monday the financial commitment of the State for the birth of four projects in Marseille aimed at developing the cinema sector in the second city of France.

• The 22.5 million euros committed will be used, among other things, for the opening of a site dedicated to filming logistics, thus allowing the storage of sets and costumes.

• The Minister of Culture will formalize next May the opening of new film studios in Marseille and its surroundings, in accordance with the announcements of Emmanuel Macron as part of the Marseille plan in large.

This was one of the commitments made by the President of the Republic as part of the Marseille plan announced in September 2021 at the Pharo in Marseille.

This Monday, the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul-Malak signed a memorandum of understanding, between the State and the communities, to finance four projects aimed at developing the cinema sector in Marseille, which is today the second city of France in terms of shooting days.

returns to this initiative announced as part of the Marseille plan on a large scale.

What are the projects?

Four projects are financed by the State, in partnership with local authorities, for a total budget of 22.5 million euros.

The first project, worth one million euros, involves creating a logistics base for film shoots.

Located on Boulevard Capitaine Gèze in the northern districts of Marseille, this logistics platform will be managed by the Arts association.

The establishment of this structure will provide film crews with space for workshops for the manufacture and storage of sets and costumes.

It will also make it possible to offer its teams car parks and offices for production or casting.

Work will begin this month for an opening scheduled for next summer.

In accordance with the announcements of the President of the Republic, the State has also committed to financing a Cinéfabrique school, on the model of the one already existing in Lyon.

This completely free training course over three years aims to open up the cinema and audiovisual professions to social diversity.

From the start of the school year, an orientation and preparation class opened in front of the Belle de Mai media center, known in particular for having housed the studios and offices of the

The modernization of this Media Center is also the third project in which the State is investing 1.5 million euros.

Finally, with the remaining five million, the city of Marseille will host a branch of the Cinémathèque française.

This structure, located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, aims to preserve and restore thousands of films and other objects related to French cinematographic heritage.

This site will offer screenings, exhibitions and cultural and educational activities.

What about the “great studios of the Mediterranean” project?

In order to attract more professionals to a city that is already very attractive in this area, the President of the Republic of Marseille had promised the opening of large studios in the Mediterranean, "which will provide the infrastructure for filming large films and major series, to have the technicians to do it, and the schools that allow them to be trained”.

A year and a half later, the scenario that is taking shape is less the opening of a single space to accommodate filming than the creation of several scattered around the city.

Among them would be the conversion of the Saint-Louis Sucre factory, in the northern districts of Marseille.

This recent industrial wasteland since the closure of the site could accommodate 4.5 hectares of film studios and training.

The project is led by Olivier Marchetti, director of Provence Studios, a major film studio in Martigues which has hosted films such as

,

or even

, Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2020.

The creation of these new filming spaces will be formalized during a visit next spring by the Minister of Culture.

“There will be a stage 2, promises Rima Abdul-Malik.

This step will be the selection of projects that are being examined by a committee of independent experts within the framework of a national call for projects, Great image factory of the France 2030 plan and the Caisse des dépôts en link with the National Center.

»

This committee of independent experts is chaired by Marseille director Cédric Jimenez, known in particular for his film

and video game designer Muriel Tramis.

And of the 170 projects submitted, more than forty files from studios and training organizations have been submitted for projects located around the Mediterranean, according to a press release from the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture.

And after ?

This Monday, on the sidelines of the signing of the memorandum of understanding in the prefecture, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region Renaud Muselier announced the creation within the Docks des Suds of a regional city of cinema, which would bring together the Cinéfabrique, the Cinémathèque and other projects still under consideration in a single space.

“The programmatic orientations and priorities of this project will be specified by the Region during the coming weeks”, indicates the prefecture in a press release.

According to the declarations of the Minister of Culture, this project could see the light of day by 2026.

Movie theater

Cinema: Three quarters of attendance before Covid-19 found in 2022

Company

Dordogne: What if the old tobacco factory turned into film studios?

• Movie theater

• Culture

• Minister of Culture

• Shooting

• Marseilles

• Paca