Hollywood chooses Cat Ba as the setting for new film project

On the afternoon of March 10, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung chaired a meeting and worked with a group of Hollywood directors and film producers on a new film production project.

The meeting was attended by representatives from many domestic tourism businesses and Hollywood film directors and producers such as Ms. Rose Lam - Global Production Director of Riot Studios (Riot Games); Mr. Nicholas Simon - CEO and Producer of Indochina Productions.

Minister Nguyen Van Hung works with Hollywood film crew

PHOTO: TITC

Minister Nguyen Van Hung emphasized that the meeting was of great significance, marking a milestone for film cooperation between Vietnam and the United States in the coming time. "Vietnam possesses beautiful natural scenery, which is the material for ideas in poetry, music, painting as well as cinema. Vietnamese people are gentle, friendly and hospitable. Promoting this advantage, in recent times, Vietnam has always proactively coordinated with other countries to develop cinema. Cinema has also been making an important contribution to the country's GDP," the leader of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed.

Introducing Riot Games, Ms. Rose Lam said that this is a multinational video game development and publishing company with many famous game titles, along with organizing international e-sports tournaments based on these game titles. The game "League of Legends" alone has attracted 650 million players globally.

The director of Riot Studios informed that the company is planning a new film project. After surveying in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, the crew found that Cat Ba archipelago (Hai Phong) is the most ideal and feasible location to make the film. Ms. Rose Lam hopes that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and local authorities will actively support and create favorable conditions for the film crew to come and film and make the film in the best way. The film project is also expected to contribute to spreading the image of Vietnamese tourism to international friends, according to information from the National Tourism Administration.

Cat Ba is a world heritage recognized by UNESCO.

PHOTO: GIANG LINH

At the meeting, representatives of the film crew presented ideas and plans for film production in Cat Ba and the two sides had direct and specific discussions.

Mr. Nicholas Simon - CEO and producer of Indochina Productions hopes that in the coming time, there will be more specific meetings and discussions about Vietnam's legal regulations as well as the work content to be implemented in Vietnam. At the same time, he believes that filming and premiering this film in Hai Phong will be a great opportunity to promote and introduce Vietnam.

According to Mr. Nicholas Simon, Vietnam is always on the priority list of international tourists in general and film crews in particular. With a large and stable audience and players, a Riot Games film being filmed in Vietnam will certainly bring a very positive effect to both countries.

In just a short time, the film crew conducted quality research and surveys on the Vietnamese market, studied the actual situation of landmarks and locations, and chose Cat Ba as the film crew's destination after comparing it with the countries the crew had surveyed.

Cat Ba archipelago belongs to Cat Hai district (Hai Phong city) including 367 large and small islands located on an area of ​​about 300 km², in the middle of Bac Bo Gulf, about 30 km from Hai Phong city center, about 140 km from Hanoi city.

PHOTO: GIANG LINH

Affirming the viewpoint of the Vietnamese Party and State that they want to be friends with all countries in the world, ready to cooperate for common development, peace and friendship, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that on the basis of complying with the provisions of the law and within the permitted conditions, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Hai Phong City government will actively support and create favorable conditions for the film crew. At the same time, there will also be proposals to the Government as well as relevant agencies to facilitate visas for the film crew.