Living Films EP Chris Lowenstein is used to taking calls from European agency producers who want to shoot on Thailand's beautiful beaches, but he's more interested in talking about ice caves. After an Illy Coffee spot he facilitated went on to pick up a Cannes Lion, a producer from Italy's BRW Partners called back with a new challenge: to create an ice cave for Italian bottled water company, Levissima.

"The ice cave was created by a group of Thais who've never seen snow or ice. The entire job was shot in a studio and had nothing to do with Thailand," he says. "Tech crews have been good here for a long time because of the feature film industry. There's an old film clique here that got their start back in '77 on The Deer Hunter."

Ten years ago, Lowenstein, a native of Portland, Oregon, fell in love with Thailand and founded Living Films in Chiang Mai to service feature, documentary and commercial production. He prefers the laid-back university town to Bangkok's crowded and smoggy streets. While the country's rep as a tropical vacation destination doesn't hurt, the local film infrastructure is well developed thanks to booming local feature and commercial markets.

But although European and Japanese clients frequently shoot in Thailand, North Americans are more hesitant. The country's main regional competitors are Malaysia, China and to a lesser extent, Vietnam, but globally, EPs say they compete for American dollars with South African and Argentine markets, where costs are low and travel distance is less of an issue.

A recent addition to the market is Mustard Films, which set up shop eight months ago in Bangkok, where competition for international jobs is fierce. "(Thailand) may not have the best technical equipment when compared to Japan, Hong Kong and Korea," says Jaruwan Dejprasert, Mustard's managing director. "But then, they also come to (Thailand) to shoot as well."

After a tsunami struck tourist resorts in 2004 and a bloodless military-backed coup d'etat threw Thailand's government into disarray in October, Dejprasert says a few productions were either postponed or canceled. He's worried the recent New Year's Eve bomb attack in Bangkok - which prompted Western governments to slap travel advisories on the country - will have a more dramatic impact on his company's ability to attract foreign business.

Until New Year's, the country's political unrest was confined to the south and production continued as usual. In 2006, the Thai Film Office reported foreign productions generated approximately $53M USD in revenue, up from $32M in 2005. Last year, 491 productions set up shop in Thailand and nearly half (201) were commercial jobs. Overall, the majority of service gigs came from Japan, Europe and India, with only 21 commercial shoots originating in the United States.

Of the country's 20 big service companies, Lowenstein says 15 compete seriously for international jobs. Some prodcos have certain markets cornered and work exclusively for Korean, Japanese or Chinese clients. He's hoping Americans will warm up to the idea of shooting in Thailand after the release of Bangkok Dangerous, starring Nicolas Cage, which completed production amidst the coup.

Living Films line produced the film, a remake of the 1999 Pang Brothers-directed thriller of the same name. In October, the Pangs shot a $38-million English-language version on location in Bangkok as the Thai military was ousting the government. After dark, hundreds of soldiers manned checkpoints throughout the city, but allowed the production's snaking line of trucks and trailers safe passage to and from night shoot locations. "Our wardrobe department made T-shirts that said, 'Ours were the only shots fired during the coup'," says Lowenstein.

However, all the political gamesmanship has stalled an industry-championed bill that would knock 7% off budgets through tax breaks. "It looks likely to pass," says Lowenstein. "But things move slower because the government is changing."

Living Films http://www.livingfilms.com
Mustard Films http://www.mustardfilms.com
Thai Film Office http://www.thaifilmoffice.org