Palma.For the past two years, things were really looking up for Majorca's audio visual industry.
Large parts of the all-star 100 million dollar film Cloud Atlas, which opened in Spain on Friday night, were shot at various locations on the island and The Stranger Inside, starring William Baldwin, was shot entirely here in Majorca.
But, Majorca's reputation as a new destination for big budget films may have been damaged by the Council of Majorca.
The island authority had apparently agreed to invest 150'000 euros in the production of Cloud Atlas and 31'700 euros in the making of The Stranger Inside.
The trouble was, these deals were apparently made during the last legislature when the Majorcan Film Commission, funded by the Council of Majorca's Majorcan Tourism Foundation, was making great headway in attracting productions to the island.
The Commission was locked in talks with Harvey Keitel about shooting his next film on the island. But, after the elections and the demise of the Socialist-led coalition government, the Partido Popular, under orders from Madrid, had to pull in the purse strings and one of the many bodies to go was the Majorcan Film Commission.
And, the alleged deals struck between the Majorcan authorities and the film producers have apparently not been honoured and there is now talk of legal action being taken if the money remains unpaid.
This debacle is not good for the image and reputation of the island's audio visual sector.
Just as Majorca was beginning to make a name for itself as a first class film production location, it is now in danger of gaining a negative reputation for making promises it does not respect.
And, at a time when the movie industry is also feeling the impact of the global recession, every dollar or euro counts and it is not every day the likes of Tom Hanks and Halle Berry are going to be filming in Majorca.
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