On September 25 (local time), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) organized a program to promote Vietnamese tourism and cinema in the US at the DGA Theater, Los Angeles, California.
Attending the event were the delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: Deputy Minister Ho An Phong. Standing Vice Chairman of Ninh Binh Province Tong Quang Thin, Vice Chairman of Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee Phan Phong Phu, Director of the National Tourism Administration Nguyen Trung Khanh, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department Tran Hai Van, Deputy Director of the Cinema Department Do Quoc Viet, Deputy Director of the Copyright Department Le Minh Tuan; leaders of a number of Departments of Culture and Tourism Management of localities: Ninh Binh, Quang Binh, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City; Chairman of the Vietnam Cinema Association Do Lenh Hung Tu.
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| The program shows the strong attraction of Vietnam as a destination to foreign filmmakers. (Source: Organizing Committee) |
This program has the participation of many localities: Hanoi City (Department of Tourism, Center for Tourism Trade and Investment Promotion, Hanoitourist, Hanoi Entertainment Services JSC); Ho Chi Minh City (Department of Tourism, Department of Culture - Sports, Focus Travel, Dat Viet VAC); Ninh Binh Province (Department of Culture - Sports, Trang An Tourist Area, Tam Chuc, Doanh Sinh Joint Stock Company, Thung Nham Tourist Area, Thien Phu Company Limited) and Quang Binh Province (Department of Tourism, Department of Planning and Investment, Oxalis Company, Truong Thinh); large tourism corporations and enterprises including: Vietnam Airlines, VinGroup (Vinfast, Vinpearl), SOVICO Group (HD Bank, Vietjet Air), Vietravel...
Some beauty queens, film producers, actors, and artists also participated in the program such as: Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 H'Hen Nie, Miss World 2019 Luong Thuy Linh, actress Quyen Linh, film producer Mai Thu Huyen, photographer Tran Tuan Viet...
The US side had the participation of more than 500 guests including producers, directors of film studios, directors, film set directors, Hollywood actors; partners of Vietnamese tourism and film businesses in the US; representatives of news agencies, press agencies...
Open up opportunities for cooperation and development
The main highlight of the program is the Workshop introducing Vietnam's tourism and cinema potential to introduce the beauty of Vietnam; beautiful films filmed in Vietnam; Vietnam's mechanisms and policies to facilitate international filmmakers; specific support and incentive commitments from localities and businesses to attract Hollywood filmmakers.
Speaking here, Deputy Minister Ho An Phong said: “The program to promote Vietnamese tourism and cinema in the US is organized to introduce and promote tourist destinations, potential filming locations, attract Hollywood film studios to Vietnam to film films with great appeal, capable of creating international media effects, promote and attract tourists to Vietnam.
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| Filmmakers share at the workshop. (Source: Organizing Committee) |
This program also contributes to concretizing and deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the United States. I am very happy to talk about a unique and exciting opportunity: the prospect of Vietnam becoming a leading destination for American film productions."
According to the Deputy Minister, in an era where storytelling is becoming popular globally, collaboration between Vietnamese and American film studios offers limitless potential. In addition, Vietnam's rich and diverse landscapes create a wonderful backdrop for filmmakers.
The Deputy Minister emphasized: “Imagine your film is set in the natural beauty of Ha Long Bay, the ancient charm of Hoi An or the modern energy of Ho Chi Minh City. But it is not just the scenery.
“Our country is home to a talented and growing creative community in the film industry, and we are working to simplify film permits, provide tax incentives and provide the necessary support to ensure the filmmaker experience here is seamless and successful.”
During the live discussion at the Workshop, the speakers, who were filmmakers who had produced works in Vietnam, all shared the same opinion about the extremely favorable filmmaking experiences, and affirmed that Vietnam has a lot of potential for film development and a very strong competitive position in the region.
Director of The Quiet American Phillip Noyce shared: “When making The Quiet American more than 20 years ago, I did not encounter any obstacles and received great support from local authorities, central and local professional agencies of Vietnam, and enthusiastic participation from the people. The film crew was given maximum conditions from quick licensing to logistics such as: providing security support teams, ensuring the filming scenes went smoothly. These are memories I will never forget.”
However, he emphasized that Vietnam needs to have more policies to support film crews, as well as train professional film human resources, create an open film production environment, and improve competitiveness in film and tourism with countries in the region.
American filmmakers want to come to Vietnam
Mr. Nicholas Simon, General Director of Indochina Productions, said: "Vietnam has a lot of potential to become a film studio, many places can be used as backdrops for filming scenes such as: Ha Long, Hoi An, Hanoi. There are even many very special places that have never appeared in movies.
Vietnamese people are very hospitable, the working environment is pleasant. The agreements signed between filmmakers and localities, associations, tourism and aviation businesses at this event will open up new opportunities and increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism and cinema in the region."
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| Vietnamese cultural space at the event. (Source: Organizing Committee) |
To promote cinema development and attract filmmakers, according to Mr. Simon, first of all, the Cinema Law must create preferential policies to make Vietnam an attractive destination, thereby reducing costs for filmmakers, creating an open corridor, easy licensing, and reducing administrative procedures.
According to Mr. Nicholas Simon, every year there are many advertising programs from Hollywood and brands in Vietnam that strongly contribute to tourism development.
“Ninh Binh is a typical example of the impact of cinema on tourism, contributing to the development of tourism in Vietnam. If famous American programs like White Lotus come to Vietnam, it will create a big buzz,” said Mr. Nicholas Simon.
Producer of the film “A Traveler’s Journey of Love” Joel Rice shared: “I had a very interesting filming experience when making this film in Vietnam. Everywhere I went, everything I filmed was very supportive. That filmmaking journey left a great impression. Vietnam is a very beautiful country.
However, currently, there is not much information about Vietnam as a destination for filmmakers, while there are many filmmakers who want to come to Vietnam to film.
I think Vietnam should consider reducing taxes for foreign filmmakers and creating more promotion programs to attract and widely reach international filmmakers."
Many cooperation agreements were signed.
With thousands of registered visitors, the Vietnam Tourism - Cinema Promotion Program in the US shows the strong attraction of Vietnam as a destination to foreign filmmakers.
The attention of the public and Hollywood filmmakers this time also contributed to widely promoting Vietnamese tourism.
At the event, more than 10 booths of localities and businesses also introduced the image and brand of safe, friendly, quality and sustainable Vietnamese destinations.
Activities taking place within the framework of the program also created opportunities for Vietnamese tourism service providers to meet and connect with American businesses and partners.
In particular, many memorandums of understanding on cooperation in tourism and cinema between relevant agencies, localities, Vietnamese enterprises and American partners have been signed.
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| Many memorandums of understanding on cooperation in tourism and cinema were signed at the event. (Source: Organizing Committee) |
In which, Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee signed with Indochina Productions Company; Xuan Truong Construction Enterprise and Indochina Productions Company; Vietnam Airlines and Indochina Productions Company; Vietnam Cinema Association and Asian World Film Festival - AWFF; Tincom Media Company and GloPaul Media Int'; VinGroup and Indochina Productions Company; VinPearl and Intrepid Travel.
In addition, the Space to introduce the country, people and culture of Vietnam displayed nearly 100 photos by photographer Tran Tuan Viet introducing nature, landscape, history, culture, UNESCO heritage, people of Vietnam; destinations, products, tourism services; potential cinema background.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/quang-ba-diem-den-viet-nam-tai-kinh-do-dien-anh-the-gioi-hollywood-287821.html
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