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Krevoy eyes April to start shooting movies in CNMI
Filmmaker says they have to hit the ground running in January for plan to create CNMI film industry
Hollywood movie producer Brad Krevoy gets assistance from a Bank of Saipan employee in opening his bank account Tuesday related to his plan to create a movie industry in the CNMI. (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)
Hollywood filmmaker Brad Krevoy disclosed Tuesday that they want to start shooting for their slate of movies in the CNMI in April 2023
“So that means we have to start pre-production long in advance. We have to start the training programs long in advance,” said Krevoy in an interview with Saipan Tribune at the Bank of Saipan where he opened an account.
That means they will have to hit the ground running in January next year for his plan to create a film industry in the CNMI by developing a movie studio. Possibly even next month, they will need to get the ball rolling, he said.
“At this moment, we’re meeting with writers to finish writing the screenplays, which we started,” Krevoy said.
He said he brought a team of three people with him to Saipan, referring to his business partner, James Townsend, who is head of production at Motion Picture Corporation of America; film producer Amy Krell; and David Anselmo, who operates his own studio in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
While he has been meeting with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, Krevoy said his team has been to different locations around Saipan.
“And we had a drone with us. We had cameras, we had a videographer,” he said.
The filmmaker said what they are going to do now is take all those images that they took and give them to the writers so they can write the scripts for the exact locations that they identified on Saipan.
“There’s a huge amount of work to be done,” said Krevoy, adding that he will be sending an additional group from his company to Saipan to start the process within the next couple of weeks.
He said he is going to send a whole team out here to start the process because, to enable them to begin productions in April 2023, it requires a lot of work since it’s a startup and they’re starting from scratch.
Krevoy said they hope that they will be in a position next year to work with Northern Marianas College president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero to start the training programs at NMC.
Krevoy does a lot of traveling as they are in production now of two movies in Salt Lake City, including one that is coming to Netflix—director Tim Burton’s new Addams Family spinoff series about Wednesday Adams titled Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega.
Krevoy is also in the process of finishing a movie for Netflix called Best. Christmas. Ever, with Heather Graham and Jason Biggs.
He disclosed that they are getting ready to start a new movie in Thailand with Brooke Shields and some other actors.
He said he has to go back to Los Angeles for meetings and that he is hoping to return frequently to Saipan because they want to prepare the movies they hope to make in April.
“It’s a very tight turnaround. So we have a lot of work to do to organize everything to prepare for those first group of movies we’re [going to] shoot in 2023,” he said.
Krevoy said he has enjoyed his time on Saipan. “The people are incredibly nice, highly intelligent, and decent and I’m eager to help build a film community to give a better future for everybody,” he said.
Deleon Guerrero said that creating a film industry here is once-in-a-generation opportunity for the local talents in the Marianas and will have a have a huge multiplier effect on the economy.
Krevoy arrived on Saipan last Monday to kick off his plan to create a film industry in the CNMI. He left the island Tuesday.
Krevoy is the founder and chairman/chief executive officer of Motion Picture Corporation of America, a leading Hollywood company well-known for creating commercial motion pictures.
Krevoy’s Dumb and Dumber comedy movie starred by then-rising star Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, was a blockbuster in 1994.
Krevoy has become known lately as producer of Christmas-themed entertainment. He produced many holiday movies, including Netflix movies such as A Christmas Melody starring Mariah Carey, Christmas Prince trilogy, and the Princess Switch.
His recent film, Falling for Christmas starring Lindsay Lohan, is one of Netflix’s top 10 movies in the U.S. today.
Torres said Krevoy’s movie studio will create new jobs for local residents and produce a minimum of 20 motion pictures in the next five years.
