Panaji, Nov 22: Foreign and local producers, who want to shoot in India now have a central agency to contact, the Film Facilitation Office (FFO), to help with obtaining shooting permissions and sourcing locations and crew.
Housed under NFDC Film Bazaar, the new body will oversee a ‘single window clearance’ system for shooting permits, working with India’s seven union territories and 29 states.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, and Sunil Arora, secretary for I&B Ministry formally announced the launch of the FFO at Film Bazaar today.
“The Ministry of I&B is setting up a Film Facilitation Office, with a view to promoting India as a filming destination.
“The outcome of engaging NFDC is to utilize their expertise towards setting up this specialized single window clearance system, which in the long run will facilitate according permissions for shooting in India by filmmakers with a view to tap the vast talent available in the Indian film industry as well as promoting Indian locales,” Rathore said.
“Primary objective of the Film Facilitation Office is to create an environment that inspires filmmakers. In doing so the FFO will identify and recommend such policy changes (at the central & state levels) that would make India a more film-friendly destination,” Arora said.
The body will also be involved in skills development, advising on policy measures and building an online database of locations and production services.
One of the key aims of this year’s Film Bazaar is to promote India as a filming location to boost both the film and tourism sectors. Recent foreigns productions to shot in India include Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House”, starring Huge Bonneville and Gillian Anderson.
