Luc Besson launches his Cité du Cinéma (European film centre).

Luc Besson has officially launched his Cité du Cinéma project in Seine-Saint-Denis. Work on the site is scheduled to commence in December and the centre will host Luc Besson’s own production company, EuropaCorp, as well as ENS Louis-Lumière (the national film, photography and sound engineering school).

Luc Besson first announced the plans for this project at the Cannes Festival in 2005 – and now his Cité Européenne du Cinéma is set to take shape, on the site of a former power station in the Pleyel district of Saint-Denis.

This ambitious project, covering an area of 6.5 hectares, aims to bring together all the various specialist technologies involved in film production, providing the capability to make a film from start to finish without leaving the site.

The facilities offered by the centre will include 9 film sets of 600 to 2,000 m² spread over 13,000 m², set-building workshops, equipment storage, shops and restaurants.

When completed, the complex will also include 30,000 m² of offices, half of them rented by Europacorp. Luc Besson’s company’s head office will be based here, occupying 4,000 m². The remaining area will be divided into offices which can be let to meet the needs of companies involved in film-making at the centre.

ENS Louis-Lumière, the national film, photography and sound engineering school, will occupy the remaining 15,000 m².

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