Film studio complex exempts rent for film crews forced to cancel shoots

Operators from the Oriental Movie Metropolis, the world's largest film-studio complex based in Qingdao in East China's Shandong province, announced on Tuesday it will exempt some rent for film crews who had to cancel their shoots due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The move is to help relieve the production teams' financial pressure caused by the halt.

"After the virus outbreak, we immediately informed five film crews within the studio to suspend shooting and took practical prevention and control measures, such as disinfection, enhancement of security checks and publicity on epidemic prevention," said Liu Yang, a brand manager of the Oriental Movie Metropolis-Sunac Film and TV Studio.

"The exempted rent is calculated from Jan 29 until shooting is renewed," Liu said. "We are staying in close contact with the film crews and once shooting can be renewed, we will help them start work as soon as possible."

The Oriental Movie Metropolis, China's answer to Hollywood, has about 40 of the world's top-class sound stages, including the world's largest sound stage at about 10,000 square meters, and the world's only underwater sound stage. Two blockbusters from last year, The Wandering Earth and Crazy Alien, were shot there.

On Tuesday Qingdao city government released 18 policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises in tacking challenges brought on by coronavirus, including deferring social security premium collections and a reduced rent and tax burden for enterprises.