The Making of Larraín’s Maria: A GPN Collaboration
GPN prides itself on being a business that feels like family; one that supports, holds, and uplifts each member. The network focuses on bringing clients and agencies together with the best production companies in each country it represents (which is now over 50 companies in 100+ countries). We have recently opened our doors to serve not only commercial, Table Top, and VTR studios, but are expanding into long-format and feature films.
Two of our European partners, Orangefilms in France and Shotz in Germany, recently collaborated on Pablo Larrain’s “Maria”, starring Angelina Jolie. Tom Ehrhardt, owner of one of Germany’s leading production service companies and GPN’s German partner, Shotz, got a call from executive producer and longtime friend Miki Emmrich, who wanted to shoot for 5 days in Paris, and asked if Tom knew of a trusted production company there.
Tom, having known the founder of France’s Orangefilms, Helmut Hutter, through GPN for many years, told Miki they would be in the best hands with Orange. Orangefilms has mainly been a commercial production service company and has been setting themselves up to enter the feature film market- and this was their lucky strike. A 5-day feature film shoot can be compared to a large commercial production, so they felt capable and confident to take on a project of this size.
“Maria” was produced independently on a tight budget and later sold to Netflix, so in the production phase, it was important to find the most cost-effective way to shoot the film. The majority of the film was shot in Budapest, Hungary, because it was cheaper to film there, but it was necessary to have the facades, the Seine, and beloved Parisian landmarks in the film. In stepped Orangefilms to make this a reality.
Tom worked on the pre-production side of things in Berlin and later Paris. He also worked closely with the Producers team on the finances. Once filming began, he moved into the role of line producer with Janna Bégué, both partner and producer at Orangefilms. Tom was responsible for the budget, cost-controlling and supervising the production process in communication with the producers in Germany, Hungary and Chile. Janna, having a thorough understanding of the French film production world, worked on the execution of production on the French side, bringing the local crews and locations together to make this film happen in Paris. Both worked together to secure the tax rebate with the CNC, which was a crucial part of being able to film in Paris. Given the tight budget, the team successfully got the French tax rebate of 30%, which amounted to almost half a million Euros.
Both parties benefited from the Synergy Effect created by being in the GPN network where knowledge and experience are shared between the companies and individuals, making for a superb collaboration.
The filming with the actors was three days and then two days were needed for post production plates of various Parisian landmarks. The production ran smoothly and they easily handled the massive fame of Angelina Jolie, and the paparazzi that is attached to her. Janna recalls how impressed she was by Jolie’s professionalism. They had three full days of shooting and Jolie was the first to arrive for hair and makeup in the morning and the last to leave at the end of the day. Both before and after the film day, Jolie would train with her voice coach, with no complaints.
Janna highlighted that it was clear that Jolie herself was a director. Knowing that the film was on a very tight budget, Jolie didn’t ask for anything extra (like massages, different food, etc.) and wanted to make sure that all of the money went into making the film, not into her comfort. Jolie also brought two of her older children to learn about running a film set. Her kids mirrored the ADs and Jolie treated them as professionals doing their job. Her children were also highly respectful and hard-working.
Having now worked on a major motion picture starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Pablo Larrain, Orangefilms is establishing itself in the world of long-format production. This film gave them the experience to open their doors to work on more international feature films in Paris and the south of France. As a consequence, Orangefilm`s is proud to announce the launch of Le Clockwork, a new associate production service company dedicated exclusively to long-format film, series and unscripted entertainment productions.
This strategic expansion represents a refined approach to serving creative industries. Le Clockwork will specialise in long-format film and non-scripted entertainment, while Orangefilms will concentrate on its core strengths: television commercials, photography shoots, and activation events.
"By creating Le Clockwork, we're offering our clients unprecedented specialisation," said Helmut Hutter, founder of Orangefilms. "Clients now benefit from two precisely calibrated production services, each designed to excel in its specific domain."
Get more details on filming in Germany with Shotz and in France with Orangefilms for commercial film production and Le Clockwork for feature and TV film productions and series as well as TV reality.