The most important element of the “capital” of the newly created Genova-Liguria Film Commission is the very positive experience of the GenovaSet Film Commission, set up by Genoa City Council in 1999. The founding members of the new Film Commission are the Regional Government of Liguria (the main financer), Genoa City Council, the Provinces of La Spezia and Genoa, La Spezia City Council, the Comunità  Montana dell’Alta Val Trebbia and a number of smaller municipalities with a great historical and scenic heritage such as Castelnuovo Magra and Apricale.
Others will be added in 2008, thanks to a legal structure, a “participatory Foundation”, that ensures representation and a decision-making role even for minority partners.
The operating sphere includes the whole region.
The objectives of the new structure are to consolidate the already considerable flow of productions to Liguria through policies which are based, above all, on the high quality of the service provided, including the logistical organization and issuing of permits that is already very much appreciated by users (a single office for all permits offering a rapid service).
“We would like to extend the procedures and advantages we have proposed in Genoa to the rest of Liguria”, says Andrea Rocco, the director of the structure, “such as, for example, the single office and exemption from payment for the occupation of public land.
However, we are also preparing some more consistent incentives and, in the short term, we will be setting up a fund to support productions”. Another strategic concern is the assistance provided to local production structures.
By the end of the year the Genova-Liguria Film Commission will move to the Cornigliano area (a former steelworks) where a largescale industrial upgrading project is being carried out.
The idea is to act as an “anchor” for the development of a center for audiovisual companies from other cities, the rest of the Region, as well as from outside Liguria.

Cinema&Video International         n. 10-11 October/November 2007