Cinema of Caputia
The Cinema of Caputia is a growing market, metonymously referred to as Blakestown, known quickly landing among the largest producers of single-language films in Micras, with more than 200 Common Tongue films released on average every year. A favorable tax system and relaxed regulatory system for films has led to the rise of studios and corporations that became national leading pioneers in motion picture engineering and technology.
The major film studios located in the cities of Judah and Zalae are the main sources of the most commercially successful and highest-grossing movies in Caputia, such as Lakeside, La Fin Absolue du Monde, Adrift, and Breaking Point.
History
Prior to the Declaration of Zalae, the Commonwealth of Hamland had a thriving local film industry, centered around the cities of New Kirrie and Judah. The first Hammish film studios were New Kirrie Films and Barrymore Productions, which later grew into the two film studio giants of the late Hammish Commonwealth cinema.
For decades, both New Kirrie Films and Barrymore Productions controlled a combined 88% of the Hammish film market. Both companies grew quickly as the two major motion picture studios in the country by producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under often long-term contract, and dominating exhibition through the ownership or effective control of distributors and exhibition. This helped guarantee additional sales of films through manipulative booking techniques called block booking, where theater owners were forced to take large numbers of a studio's pictures sight unseen.
Under the National Provisional Authority, controls enacted over the creative output of the nation led to El Silencio, which was a series of national crack downs on the national media after the assassination of Donat Ravaillac. A series of laws and regulations were enacted by General Augustus Eliphas to crackdown on dissent, imposing draconian government media standards to censor film, radio, TV and newspapers across the country. The Hammish Civil War and the Alexandrian flu were national crises that the old Hammish film industry did not survive, which led with the forced nationalization of New Kirrie Films and Barrymore Productions at the height of the war.
The close of the Hammish Civil War and the foundation of Caputia led to the mass deregulation of Caputian media and the enactment of "cultural incentive laws" which offer subsidies to film, TV, theater, and music companies based in Caputia. The Caputian film market is incredibly competitive, boasting several important movie studios. Though there is no official law in place, the general policy of the Caputian Government has been to act against media consolidation, to ensure a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media is avoided.
Most Caputian film studios are based in the cities of Zalae and Judah, with Zalae taking the title as the capital of Caputian cinema. Generous government subsidies for reconstruction helped film studios purchase old warehouses and built massive film studios in the Zalae suburb of St. Cloud.
St. Cloud quickly developed, mainly due to Premium Micras Pictures, the largest film company in Caputia. Owned by the prominent Blakeslee family, the studio produced box office successes that are considered by many to be "defining to the current Caputian existence", among them the documentaries Trials and Trbulations and Extinction.
With the establishment of the Royal District of Zalae, St. Cloud was assigned to the state of Northpass during the delicate settling of the national internal borders. It incorporated itself into a city in 1653, and elected independent pro-movie business Mayor Michael Artone. As Mayor, Artone changed the name of the city to Blakestown.
The first film by a Blakestown studio, Meir Networks, was shot in 1653. The home of Benjamin Meir in Abeis was used as its set. It was a romantic film called The Lands We Met.
The development of the film industry in Judah follows a different trajectory than the development of Zalae. While most of Zalae's growth is from the establishment of favorable tax and subsidy programs, Judah has always been home to the Judah Film Festival. Held by the city's Academy of National Film, it started as a fundraising dinner to finance the prestigious school and its programs. Its winners usually go on to perform well in the Zalae Film Festival.
Studios and Persons of Prominence
Main Distributors
Minor Distributors
- Backovic Productions
- NAWG Productions (National Artists and Writers' Guild)
Foreign Distributors
- Sagu Film Studios (Nova England);
- Filmcraeft International (Nova England);
- Novasolum Studios (Shireroth).
Prominent Actors
- Sophie Valverde
- Sarah Hansen
- Agatha Villanueva
- Adena Normandy
- Christy Denueve
- Lucie Albert
- Irene Salomon
- Robert Pierce
- Luis Murat
- Alfred Johnson
- Michael Browning
- Braden Hanover
- Marc Besson
- Robert Green
- Jean Loubriel
- Greta Orlando (Kasterburg)
Directors
Film Technology
Zalae Film Festival
The Zalae Film Festival is held by the National Artists and Writers' Guild in Zalae, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around Micras. Founded in 1654, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the newly opened National Palace of Festivals complex in Zalae, Caputia.
The Zalae Film Festival is known for having an awards category for "Best National Film", which rewards patriotic films and documentaries, and for Best Horror Film (starting in 1657). In 1657, the film Lakeside by independent Caputian director Hans Backovic won the first Best Horror Film award of the Zalae Film Festival.
Judah Film Festival
The Academy of National Film was founded under Seneschal Juan Teaodir of the Commonwealth of Hamland. It produces most of the national talent that goes on to succeed in Caputian and international cinema - actors, directors, photographers, producers, and writers. To raise funds towards its upkeep and to finance the educations of its students, the Academy launched the Judah Film Festival.
The Judah Film Festival is a showcase for new work from Caputian and international independent filmmakers, with competitive sections for Caputian and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections.
The festival has changed over the decades from a low-profile venue for small-budget, independent or even student creators from outside the Caputian film studio system to a media extravaganza for Blakestown actors, directors, paparazzi, and luxury lounges set up by companies not affiliated with the Festival. Festival organizers have tried curbing these activities in recent years.
In 1656, a documentary film was released called This Is Work... And Money that documented the experiences of small film makers trying to get into Caputian film festivals, including the Judah Film Festival. The film argued that the system has become dominated by large studios and sponsoring corporations.
Prior to the 1657 awards, a new programming category was introduced, called "FUTURE". It was used to showcase innovative films and documentaries able to transcend the confines of traditional independent budgets.
Winners of the Judah Film Festival usually go on to win other national accolades and commercial success.
Film and Politics
In the 1650s, it became clear to many political parties that there was money in Blakestown. Many politicians began to form partnerships in the Caputian film industry. Most Caputian actors and filmmakers self-identify as center-left and favor the National Salvation Front and leftist elements in the National Unity Party.
Political endorsements
It is common for leading actors to sign endorsements letters, make appearances in radio and printed advertising for political parties and candidates. Movie stars are traditionally used to draw a large audiences into the political views of the party or cause they favor. Celebrities and money have attracted politicians into the high-class, glittering Blakestown lifestyle. With television came an enormously important new media in politics and Blakestown helped with actors making speeches on their political beliefs in TV.
Movie Posters
The Lands We Met was the first film made in Caputia after the end of the civil war.
The film Lakeside was a blockbuster horror film directed by Caputian film director Hans Backovic.
La Fin Absolue du Monde, the latest horror film by Caputian film director Hans Backovic has been called "avant-garde", having formed a devout cult following across the world.
Adrift is a film inspired by the struggles endured by the people of the Old Oil Rig and their recent disaster that had many of their people adrift in the high seas of Micras until they found land.
Breaking Point is an adventure film based in Kasterburg, where an expedition into the Benacian Green faces arduous challenges to the survival of the explorers.
Goldspectre is about John Carlson, a Caputian secret agent that fights for Queen and country around the world.
Trial and Tribulations is a transcendentally honest and universally praised documentary by two respected Caputian journalists on the Hammish Civil War.
Extinction is a haunting documentary about the Alexandrian flu and its deadly rampage across all of Micras.
The Life of Queen Elizabeth I is a documentary about the life of Regina Ravaillac - better known as Queen Elizabeth I.
Coat is a horror film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by Hans Backovic, about supernaturally beautiful raccoon pelts.
