Filmmakers in Mexico get a break
Mexico’s Congress this week dropped a controversial plan that would have eliminated three government-run movie entities that filmmakers consider crucial to the country’s production industry, trade paper The Hollywood Reporter said.
President Vicente Fox had called for the sale or closure of film-financing body Imcine, the studio Churubusco Azteca and film school CCC, which met with sustained protest from filmmakers who pressured lawmakers to reject the widely unpopular proposal.
A government spokesman confirmed that legislators excluded the proposal from the budget package, meaning the matter will not come to a congressional vote.
Fox’s plan met with heated resistance at a time Mexico’s industry is flourishing. Nearly 30 movies were being produced in Mexico last year, up from just five in 1995 and eight in 2000. Industry figures say government support helped spur the rebound, in addition to fostering private investment in production of commercial films and construction of modern multiplex theaters.
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