Par
Fabrice Cahen
Published on
Nov 1, 2024 at 8:52 a.m.
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The banks of the Seine in Vétheuil, the mushroom farms of Saint-Gervais, the Balincourt castle in Arronville, a farm in Menouville, the village of Theuville…
Le Vexin served as the setting for the filming of the successful American series, Daryl Dixonderived from The Walking Dead, followed by 30 million fans around the world.
In Val-d'Oise, between October 2022 and November 2023, the shooting of the new series allowed an economic impact estimated at 20 million euros for tourism in the department, an essential land of cinema.
“Never since the filming of Da Vinci Code have we had such an attraction for the department”
With no less than 150 days of occupation, more than fifty days of filming in eleven different locations, the American series, with a budget of 130 million dollars, took Val-d'Oise as its main location.
10,000 nights
The solitary character of Daryl Dixon, played by the actor Norman Reedus, was seen at the fort of Cormeilles-en-Parisis, the flour mill of Presles, the castle of Saint-Martin-de-Tertre, a farm in Luzarches, the Royaumont Abbey and that of Notre-Dame-du-Val in Mériel.
“For their sets, they installed stained glass windows that we kept,” reports Antigone Povataj, co-owner of the historic monument, rented for nine months for the needs of filming in the region.
Course
Thus, the presence of the actors and the film crew required no less than 10,000 hotel nights for a turnover exceeding one million euros, the same revenue as the rental of the site.
“An economic impact of around 20 million euros,” says Patrick Glâtre
“A hotel in Cergy reached its monthly revenue for November 2022, by welcoming filming technicians. »
Touring Walking Dead
The proximity of Paris and the studios of Plaine-Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) remains an asset for the Terre de cinéma department.
“It was because it was filming in Saint-Denis that Pilgrim production called me to find outdoor locations,” confides the Department’s cinema representative. It costs less to film scenes supposed to take place at Mont-Saint-Michel or Saint-Malo at the Val de Mériel Abbey. »
Now, Patrick Glatre is talking about the idea of launching a Walking Dead tour.
A route that would take tourists and fans of the series through the different filming locations, in Vexin, the Oise valley, Parisis, the Pays de France.
Pontoise, Royaumont L'Isle-Adam, already offer cinema destinations.
From Kirk to Michael Douglas, Val-d'Oise land of filming
In Val-d'Oise, cinema plays a significant part in the attractiveness of the region. As an economic benefit, the filming of the two seasons of the zombie series alone represented the equivalent of around twenty shoots usually carried out in the department.
An aspect that Julien Bachard, vice-president of the Department in charge of tourism, was able to praise during the creation of a filming reception office, attached to the Val-d'Oise Tourism service. The elected official focused on cinema as a strong axis of the departmental tourist attractiveness strategy.
From Kirk Douglas in The Passionate Life of Vincent Van Gogh in 1956 to his son Michael Douglas in Franklin in 2023, hundreds of scenes from some 2,000 films have been filmed in the region.
“When a production company needs accommodation, I ask the competent department,” explains Patrick Glâtre.
In Us, the filming of the series Cat's Eyes at the Château de Dampont required fifteen nights for 40 to 100 people, in a hotel in Cergy.
Here, there is no shortage of filming locations and the Paris region is constantly surveyed by scouts from film production agencies.
Le Vexin, with its many castles, is particularly prized as its setting which reflects many regions of France. The Epte valley is often chosen for scenes supposed to represent the Vosges, in the area around Amenucourt.
Communes like Pontoise and Magny-en-Vexin and their town center with its authentic character are used for scenes that do not require too much added scenery, to recreate a scene in the provinces.
Val-d'Oise has found its place in the cinema world. The filming of the American production confirms this.
“When in January 2023, France Bleu launched its show it’s working! which evokes the economy of cinema, she chose Val-d'Oise as her first subject”, recalls Patrick Glatre.
Val-d'Oise is an essential cinematographic region.
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