Yahoo Lifestyle ‘Billionaire Island’’s Norwegian Location Frøya Voted Best European Filming Spot at the EUFCN Location Awards in Berlin
For the first time, Norway has scooped the coveted Jury Prize for Best Film Location at the European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN) Location Awards 2024, which was handed out in Berlin Feb. 17. The award was given out to the location Frøya and the Midgard Film Commission in central Norway, for the filming location of Netflix’s “Billionaire Island” produced by Rubicon.
The jury including Sony Pictures Television’s Tammy Glover, U.K. production designer Caroline Greville-Morris, Dutch supervising location manager Benjamin Hendriks and U.K. supervising location manager EJ Richards, honored Frøya both for its spectacular scenery showcased in the series and for the efforts made to attract film productions in general.
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“We are incredibly proud to receive this award. It is absolutely amazing that Frøya has now been named the most attractive film location in Europe. There were strict criteria, and we were fighting against very strong opponents, so this was really moving,” said Solveig Sigmond Ræstad, film commissioner at Midgard Film Commission Norway.
The Netflix comedy drama “Billionaire Island,” created by “Lilyhammer”’s Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, is set in the fictional island of Brima, but it was filmed for five weeks on Frøya island on the Trøndelag coast in central Norway, between August and September 2023. The show aired on the streaming giant in September 2024.
“Norway has one of the world’s longest coastlines, but we rarely see film or TV series from this environment. So when we were looking for a filming location for “Billionaire Island,” we found that Frøya had everything we wanted for the series. The rugged and beautiful landscape, the weather, the mix of nature and industry, and the people on the island who were so open and helpful with the production,” said producer Gudny Hummelvoll.
Also among the five runners up for the EUFCN Location Awards 2024, Austria’s historical Schönbrunn Palace and the Vienna Film Commission won the EUFCN Audience Location Award 2024 forthe HBO series “The Regime” toplining Kate Winslet and Matthias Schoenaerts. The Austrian location was selected through public online voting.
The EUFCN Locations Awards were presented for the eighth year during the European Film Market in Berlin.
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