Woody Switches From Paris to London

Woody Allen has switched locations, abandoning earlier plans to shoot his next film in Paris. He's decided instead to film in Britain, for the third time.

Filming in Paris was due to start in a few weeks with a cast headed by the Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams, but producers apparently felt the Paris budget was getting too high and that London was a far more attractive option.

Match Point starring Scarlett Johansson, the first film Allen made in London and his first made outside of New York, has been his most successful commercial film to date. His second London film, Scoop, has not yet been released.

The Paris project was to be about young Americans in the city. Paris was to be a first outing for Williams – insiders say Allen considers her to be his current muse – since her Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain.

According to reports, a decision was staken last weekend that Paris was to be abandoned. Gareth Wiley, who produced Allen's earlier London films, confirmed to The Times; “It was too expensive,” he said, but also confirmed they would now be filming “ a unique story written specially for London.”

Allen has gone on record as saying that the way the industry works in Britain makes a welcome change, compared with a more oppressive Hollywood style where studios have to see scripts and comment on casting.

Allen sang the praises of London last year, saying that the way of working on this side of the Atlantic was a welcome change. He said that the insistence of Hollywood studios on seeing scripts and commenting on casting was oppressive.

Filming Match Point Allen was overwhelmed by the freedom he was given in Britain. He likes to be left alone to make a film. “In London I could work that way,” he said.

He also liked how London’s grey skies and flat light “gave a colour saturation to everything that’s very rich and very beautiful for photography”.

London is experiencing something of a filmmaking boom. Red tape and health and safety obstacles are being relaxed in an effort to ease the path of film-makers.

Since it started two years ago, Film London, the planning agency for film and media, has put into place a range of initiatives. Across the city, the number of shooting days has increased by 30 per cent over the past two years.