Lights, camera, action!
Transporting film equipment to Thailand for the French film company Gaumont.
The Thai customs authorities gave some of the stage directions for the latest A. Hartrodt / Gaumont co-production. A carnet needed to clear equipment through customs was lost, but the cameras were soon in action again, thanks also to local partner Wisma Forwarding.
The French firm Gaumont, established in 1895, is the oldest film production company in the world. It has produced classics such as ‘Nikita’, ‘Léon: The Professional’ and ‘The Big Blue’. It recently entrusted the Hamburg-based forwarder and logistician A. Hartrodt with transporting some of its film equipment to Thailand.
Between Brussels and Bangkok
Having previously produced the historical series ‘Barbarians’, which aired on Netflix recently, Gaumont is now producing a new six-part mini-series called ‘What Counts’. The story takes place during the events of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and is being filmed in Brussels, Ostend, Cologne, Bonn and Thailand.
A. Hartrodt transported the film equipment halfway around the world for Gaumont, from Brussels to Bangkok. Clearing the machinery and film stock through Thai customs with all the correct documentation – especially the carnet, a stapled customs document with several pages – is usually a routine task for the forwarder.
A hitch in the procedure led to the producer briefly fearing that the start of filming may be delayed, because an airline had misplaced the carnet. A. Hartrodt regional managing director Jens Roemer reported that “we stayed in permanent contact with the officials in charge and made arrangements with the chamber of commerce to have a new carnet issued in case it was needed.” But all’s well that ends well, for “after three long days the carrier found the original and the import could proceed.” A. Hartrodt worked with its Wisma Forwarding joint venture, a part of its own network in Thailand, for customs clearance and delivery in Bangkok.
Ivo Beck, a Gaumont producer based in Berlin, was really pleased. “Such comprehensive services were lacking in Germany so far.”