With production services provided by Shoot Colombia, a Colombian company promoting the country as a safe choice for film production, a fragment of the film “The Next Three Days” directed by Oscar winner Paul Haggis, currently in post-production and to be released in 2011, was shot in Cartagena and Santa Marta. The film stars Russell Crowe, who garnered an Oscar for his performance in “Gladiator” and an Oscar nomination for “A Beautiful Mind”; “Spiderman” star Elizabeth Banks; Olivia Wilde, known for her work on the TV series “Dr. House” and in “Terminator Salvation”; and the Oscar nominee, Liam Neeson.

Although shooting lasted only two days (Jan. 20 and 21 – one day in each city), the production team needed an entire month to prepare given they had to recreate Venezuela, pull off a complex simulation of two 1977 Dodge Darts to emulate the original car in the story, and find doppelgangers for actors Crowe and Banks. The scenes were originally to be shot in Venezuela, but due to the participation of producer Michael Nozik, executive producer of “Love in the Time of Cholera” (2007); Mike Appton, representative from Lionsgate, the company in charge of the project, who was working on a project with Felipe Aljure, one of the heads of Shoot Colombia and 2nd Unit Director on “Love in the Time of Cholera”, a decision was made to shoot in Colombia. Aljure states: “You might say it’s the result of several years’ work and of the trust based on a previous positive work experience”.

According to Julián Giraldo, another Shoot Colombia executive and Manager at RCN Cine,: “Shoot Colombia has great aims for this year and wants to bring at least two foreign productions to this country, involving close to 60 days of shooting each with their respective pre-productions and closings. The idea is to acquire experience and reputation so that more productions keep us in mind as a choice. For now, we’re focusing on training personnel, maintaining our profile at festivals, and continuing to work on more film-friendly legislation.”

The new Paul Haggis thriller “The Next Three Days”, a remake of a French film “Pour Elle” (2008), is the story of Lisa and Julien (Banks and Crowe), who have a happy marriage and enjoy life with their young son Oscar. However, their peaceful home and family are sundered when Lisa is arrested for a murder she didn’t commit. Twenty years in prison threaten to separate the couple and Lisa from her son, but Julien is not going to stand for it. He believes she’s innocent and will do anything to prove it. After three years of imprisonment and separation, Lisa is suicidal, although love and trust still exists. Julien can’t take it anymore and decides to ignore the limits of justice in the name of love, his son and his wife.

Neeson puts in a cameo appearance, playing the role of man who has escaped from prison on several occasions and has written a book on the subject. He’ll give Crowe’s character some tips on breaking his wife out of prison.

The crew in Colombia, consisting of 10 people, but expanding to 115 during shooting in Cartagena, included Mike Nouzik, USA producer; Felipe Aljure Colombian producer; Henry Lynk director of photography; Enrique Arango and Mauricio Escobar, field producers; Robinson Tabares, first assistant cameraman; Hugo Ortiz, second assistant cameraman; Josué Rojas, hot head operator; and Diego Cuellar, Tyler mount operator.