Punjab finalises preparations to launch first modern Film City

Punjab has finalised preparations for the launch of its first modern Film City, Business Recorder reported, and ProPakistani said a date for the inauguration has been announced.

Neither report, in the form available, gave the date, the site chosen for the complex, the cost of the project or the department building it. Both were brief items and neither set out the plan in detail beyond the state of preparations.

Aaj News also carried the plan, devoting part of its afternoon headlines bulletin to the Punjab Film City and to modern film studios, in a segment framed around the state of the Pakistani film industry.

The reports present the complex as a provincial effort to give local production modern studio facilities. They do not say what sound stages, post-production suites or other infrastructure it will contain, how it will be financed, whether private investors are involved, or what incentives filmmakers will be offered. Skardu Times could not independently confirm those details. The reports available to this newspaper also did not say when construction began or when the complex is expected to open.

Pakistan's film industry has long been centred on Lahore, and producers have for years complained of a shortage of functioning studios and of productions moving abroad for facilities and crews.

Separately, 24NewsHD carried remarks by actor Shamoon Abbasi, who blamed ego for the troubles of Pakistan's film industry. The channel did not say whether the comments were made about the Film City plan, and the item did not identify the disputes he was referring to.

No statement from the Punjab government setting out a timeline, budget or scope for the project appeared in the reports carried by the four outlets, and it was not stated which officials would oversee the launch or where the inauguration would be held.

The Film City is being announced as a provincial project rather than a federal one, and the reports did not indicate whether any federal package or tax concession for film production is attached to it.