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DF says goodbye to James Bond and crew
Business owners won't be unhappy to see them go
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James Bond himself has already left; this week, the rest of the crew is following suit.
For two weeks Mexico City was taken over by actors and film crews shooting the next Bond film, called Spectre, which included a Day of the Dead parade and — more in keeping with a Bond flick — stunt men fighting on a helicopter as it buzzed over the city.
However, restaurants and retailers will not be sad to see the end of the shoot: they estimate that the cost to businesses was as high as 377 million pesos, or US $25 million, as a result of street closings.
A group representing small businesses says a survey found that 6,627 were affected, and sales on average were down 60%. Small Business Chamber of Commerce president Gerardo López Becerra blamed it on “bad public policy” by city officials who provided locations for filming without considering or respecting business and even religious activities.
About 100 businesses received compensation of $100-$130 a day from the production company.
Another controversy over the filming surfaced when a story revealed that the producers were getting tax cuts of as much as $20 million and that changes were made in exchange regarding casting and shooting locations, such as the selection of Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman as a “Bond girl” and that the film include a four-minute sequence shot in Mexico.
The government has made no comment, but producer Michael Wilson said Bond films always receive tax incentives.
The focus of the films is flushing out the bad guys, a fact that was taken into account by demonstrators on Saturday who showed up at the shooting with a satirical banner asking for Agent 007 to help find the missing students of Ayotzinapa.
The street closings ended yesterday in time for Easter week visitors, a holiday period that businesses are counting on to recoup the losses incurred by the Hollywood invasion.
Sources: EFE (en), Global Post (en)
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