Hollywood production sets in Istanbul’s historic venues

Cansu Çamlıbel

ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

‘Missing,’ a TV series on US-based channel ABC, tells the story of a former CIA agent mother who lost her son 10 years ago. The show

is filmed on location in Istanbul’s historic neighborhoods. Daily Hürriyet spent a day on set for the last two episodes of the TV series

As Hollywood producers’ interest increases in Turkey for feature film projects, Istanbul has hosted the team from a new television series produced for the new season of a leading U.S. channel.

ABC television, a subsidiary of Walt Disney, shot scenes for the last two episodes of “Missing” in the city’s Said Halim Pasha Mansion, Hagia Sophia, Süleymaniye Mosque, Grand Bazaar and Sultanahmet. These places have been opened for a production for the first time with their all authentic features.

World-famous actors like Ashley Judd, Sean Bean and Cliff Curtis participated in the nine-day shoot, where 450 people worked.

Before filming in Istanbul, the TV series’ previously shot scenes that took place in Prague, Paris, Moscow and Berlin. Daily Hürriyet spent a day on the set of the series, which tells the story of a former CIA agent mother who lost all trace of her son 10 years ago.

Executive Producer Grant Scharbo expressed their concerns about working in Turkey before coming. “We had a lot concerns because we had heard that Turkey is very restrictive in terms of filming. And we really have not experienced that much,” he said. “We of course hired a local company to be the point person and they have been phenomenal. If stuff has happened I have not been aware of it.”

Locations are checked before shooting

Things have gone smoothly even though there was a problem when lead actress Ashley Judd became ill and was hospitalized for some days, Scharbo said, adding that the schedule had to shift, but somehow they managed to obtain permits for the locations. “The crew and people we met have really embraced us.”

Scharbo said the Walt Disney company had a security department that checks locations where they were shooting. “They checked and reported that we don’t have anything to worry about.”

Istanbul offers locations that cannot be seen elsewhere in the world, Scharbo said. “Our whole show was shot in Eastern Europe and we wanted our finale to be different. Turkey has that in spades.

“I had also never been to a Muslim country in my life, and I think that was the real eye-opener,” he said. “We were scouting on a rooftop near Süleymaniye very early in the morning. The call to prayer started and I had never heard that before in my life. For someone who has never heard it, it is a unique sound and beautiful.”

‘International, cosmopolitan feel’

The scriptwriter of the series, Gregory Poirier, said he thought Istanbul was one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

“I wanted to end this story somewhere that the characters could wind up going to Asia or Africa. I wanted to find a place with a very international cosmopolitan feel, but also geographically close,” Poirier said, adding that the project naturally called out for Istanbul. “It is a city you can’t fake anywhere else. You can’t shoot somewhere else and say it is Istanbul,” he said, adding that they did not fire any guns in Hagia Sophia because they were respectful.

“If you really want to attract international filmmakers, it would be nice to have infrastructure that people can use. We came here specifically for location shooting,” he said, adding that bigger productions would need film infrastructure and a trained crew is important. “I don’t know how experienced your crews really are in Istanbul, but this point could be considered,” he said.

$4 million for each episode

– Ten episodes in the first season have been shot over six months. The budget for each episode was $4 million.

– Most of the scenes that take place in Rome, Paris, Moscow and Berlin were shot in the Czech Republic. The team only shot on location for scenes that take place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and Istanbul.

– A 120-person technical team has arrived in Istanbul for filming.

– More than 400 Turkish stunts actors in the city have contributed.

– Before completing the filming of the first season, the production team was invited to Mipcom, a TV and entertainment content market, which is held in Cannes once every year.

via Hollywood production sets in Istanbul’s historic venues – Hurriyet Daily News.