Any time a movie shoots in a location outside of a typical entertainment city like Hollywood or New York, it’s going to be a pretty big deal to locals. But when it’s not just any movie, when it’s the next installment of a major franchise, when it’s Star Wars Episode VII? That’s monumental. And you can bet that the community’s residents are going to make the most of it. That’s just what’s happening in southwest Ireland right now.
Episode VII is currently being shot in Ireland and the community is already noticing the changes that such a high-profile shoot brings. From an influx of tourism to an increase in jobs available to locals, most of the shoot’s effects seem to be positive. Some locals are being payed handsomely for the use of their fields during filming, and of course the local children are loving every second of it.
However, there are some more-than-slight concerns regarding the area becoming overcrowded. The sets themselves are being kept under pretty tight wraps and there are non-disclosure agreements and no-cell-phone policies all over the shoot (there’s even a no-fly zone, because Star Wars doesn’t screw around when it comes to secrecy) to keep things as close to normal in the neighborhood as possible, but that isn’t stopping a number of people from craning their necks for a glimpse at what the next Star Wars movie might contain. One resident, Louis Mulcahy, has been hosting people at his business so they can see filming from the perch by using a telescope. It’s basically his way of getting back at the movie which is definitely frustrating him.
Mulcahy’s pottery shop is already tough to get to due to tourist traffic, and he says “the increase in numbers certainly won’t help” with his sales. The area is already one of the busiest tourist routes in the country, so all the people attracted to the film set are only exacerbating the issue. If Star Wars continues to shoot in Ireland, the country could see similar benefits in the near future. Even with all of those benefits, pissing off scores of locals in the process might not bode well for filming at the same place in the future. At least Rian Johnson loves Ireland, even if all of Ireland doesn’t love him and his blockbuster movie back.
https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/735650851780431872
Source: The National
