Additional companies and organizations are acknowledged in the end credits as follows: "With the collaboration of Telvisió de Catalunya" and "With the support of Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Cultura, ICAA, Geralitat de Catalunya Institut Català de les Indústries Culturals, and Catalan Films & TV." Also in the end credits, producers “gratefully acknowledge and wish to thank” the following organizations and individuals: 120% Lino, American Vintage, André, Anthony Peto, Aram, Avene, Badoit, Bellerose, Bensimon, Berwich, Burberry, Castañer, Celine, Cerruti, Chanel, , Domaine Clarence Dillon SAS, Chloé, Christian Dior, Christian Louboutin, Closed, Corachan y Delgado, Dalloyau Paris, Daniel Hechter, David Mayer Naman, Dockers, Dr. Hauschka, Eleven Paris, Emmanuelle Khanh, Forte Forte, Geox, Giorgio Armani Parfums, Goyard, Hartford, Hermès, Hogan, Hugo Boss, Isabelle Marant, Lanvin, Lee, J.M. Weston, Jamin Puech, Jerome Dreyfuss, Jimmy Choo, Kenzo, Kitsuné Paris, Lacoste, Leonor Greyl, Les Deux Ailleurs, Les Petites, Levi’s, Liu Jeans, Liu-Jo, LOFT design by…, Lottusse, Lydia Courteille, Mango, Maquillage Dior, Minelli, Miss Sixty/Energie, Montblanc, Notify, Orbis Media, Pernod, Petit Bateau, Persol, Ralph Lauren, Ray-Ban, Rene Furterer, Repetto, Sandro, Sarah, Sonia Rykiel, Tequila Solo, Vanessa Bruno, Julien Civange, Caroline Goux, Greg Johnson, Howard Neustadt, Jay Rubin, Eric Zeller, Gaelle Duchemin, Muriel Guidoni, John Kochman, Cédric Meeschaert, Christophe Musitelli, Chopard, Hôtel Le Bristol Paris, Peugeot, Mission Cinéma-Mairie de Paris, Préfecture de Police de Paris, La Compagnie des Bateaux-Mouches, VNF-Voies Navigables de France, Marché Paul Bert-Serpette-Puces de Paris St. Ouen, Le Meurice Paris, and Restaurant Lapérouse. End credits also contain the following statement in French: “Avec l’aimable concours de la Ville de Paris et de la Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, Copyright Pierre Bideau pour l’éclairage de la Tour Eiffel. Remerciement à la Fondation Claude Monet à Giverny propriété de l’Academie des Beaux Arts, Etablissement Public du Musée et du Domaine National de Versailles, Pyramide du Louvre, Artchitect I.M. Pei, Musée Rodin, Paris, Musée de l’Orangerie-Jardins des Tuileries,” and “Cette oeuvre a bénéficie du credit d’impôt en faveur de la production de films étrangers en France/This film has benefited from the tax credit for foreign film production in France.” Works used in the film are then credited as follows: “Various Artworks by Galerie Troubetzkoy & Mathieu Lemarie; Calligraphy by Catherine Mouligné; “Can-Can” Dancers courtesy of “Les Caprices Parisiens,” Fabienne Debastiani, Choreographer; Moulin Rouge is a registered trademark of Moulin Rouge SA; “The Bather,” “Head of a Sleeping Woman,” “Study for Nude with Drapery,” “Grand Nu à la Draperie,” 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.”
       According to production notes, director Woody Allen’s love for Paris began when he travelled there for the filming of WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT? (1965, see entry), which he’d written. Allen expressed that he was “rueful about not staying [in Paris] after the filming.” The character “Gil” in Midnight in Paris , who expatriated to the French capital at some point in his twenties, shares Allen’s “romantic attachment” to the city.
       An 18 Apr 2006 DV article announced that Allen had “scrapped plans” to film a project in Paris, with actors David Krumholtz and Michelle Williams playing the lead roles, due to a costly budget. In a 9 Dec 2011 DV article, Letty Aronson, Allen’s sister and longtime producer, stated that they “tried to [shoot the Midnight in Paris script] about two or three years prior to our [summer 2010] shoot, but it was just too expensive.” In 2010, Allen was able to re-launch the project in Paris, with a new cast, due to a French tax rebate which had been passed in 2009, as noted in a May 2011 Screen International article.
       A 23 Apr 2010 HR news item stated that Allen, who normally would not divulge details about upcoming producitons, had revealed the plot of the film, saying it was “a romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital on business.” The film was being made as “part of a three-picture financing deal between Allen’s Gravier Prods. and Mediapro,” with a budget of $30 million, according to a 30 Nov 2009 DV news item.
       Owen Wilson was the first actor to join the cast, according to the 9 Dec 2011 DV article. Production notes stated that, although Allen had first written Gil as “an east coast intellectual,” casting director Juliet Taylor urged him to consider Owen Wilson, a Texan with blonde hair. Allen later changed Gil’s hometown to California to better match Wilson to the role.
       According to the May 2011 Screen International , shooting began in Paris in late Jul 2010 with a seven-week schedule. Aronson commented in the 9 Dec 2011 DV article that, despite Allen’s preference for daytime shooting hours, half the film takes place at night, so late hours were mandatory. Because the sun sets late in Europe during summer, the crew “had to work until 2 or 3 in the morning.” In a 4 Apr 2011 Var article, Olivier-Rene Veillon of the Ile-de-France Film Commission stated that scenes in the film “move through the whole of Paris, from Montmartre to the banks of the Seine.” Parisian locations used include: the Rodin Museum, the Musee de l’Orangerie, Saint-Ouen flea market, Versailles Palace, the Bristol Hotel, Le Meurice Hotel, Maxim’s restaurant and Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny. The May 2011 Screen International article noted that “Allen is well-liked in the city which made it easier” to accommodate the “fairly complex” shoot. Many shooting days included last minute changes to the schedule and moves to multiple locations, with the 60-70-person crew.
       A 12 Dec 2011 DV article explained director of photography Darius Khondji’s use of different lenses and lighting schemes to distinguish the present-day scenes from the 1920s world into which Gil ventures: “for the period sections, [Khondji] used old Taylor-Hobson Cooke lenses from the 1960s and ‘70s, and sharp, modern Cooke S5 lenses for contemporary pieces.” Khondji stated, “The modern period…has a wider lens and more camera moves to be sharper with more depth of field, while we used longer lenses for period work.” For the 1920s period, Allen insisted the exteriors look dim, to reflect a “darker and grittier [Paris]…as it surely was before modern illumination took hold.”
       Actor Michael Sheen commented on Allen’s notoriously hands-off directing style in a 20 May 2011 WSJ , saying, “My experience was that he was very hands-on. There were bits of direction that were very specific. ‘Leave a slightly longer pause before you say that word and it will be funnier.’” Sheen further noted that Allen shot many scenes in long takes which gave the actors freedom to establish their own rhythm, and that Allen preferred the actors “to play the surface” of a scene instead of trying to convey subtext.
       A 12 Jan 2011 HR article announced that Sony Pictures Classics had “acquired all North American rights” to the film. In a 9 Jul 2011 LAT article, Sony Classics Co-Chairman Tom Bernard described the “total guerrilla marketing campaign” they were forced to conduct given a budget of only $10 million, pointing out the creativity used to draw in adult audiences which are hard to pin down. Bernard noted that they used the TV Guide to target programs during which they would buy advertising, saying “We bought time on the Weather Channel and the Cooking Channel…[and] a lot of local baseball games…because baseball broadcasts definitely deliver an older audience.” Both Allen and Wilson were mostly unavailable for publicity, but Sony successfully encouraged reporters to speak to Wilson about the film while he was on a press junket for Cars 2 (2011, see entry).
Midnight in Paris premiered 11 May 2011, at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival. A 13 May 2011 NYT article reported that, at the film’s Cannes press conference, Allen was asked whether the “cliché” views of Paris in the film reflected “his vision” of the city, or the main character’s. Allen responded that it was “the same New York City that I’ve shown to people around in the world in a picture like Manhattan . It’s the Manhattan that I don’t see around me but the one I recognize from the movies. And this is the same thing in Paris. I wanted to show the city emotionally, the way I felt about it. It didn’t matter to me how real it was or what it reflected.”
       According to a 9 Jun 2011 HR article, the film opened on 20 May 2011 in only six theaters. A 23 May 2011 LAT article reported that the film’s opening weekend “per-theater average of $96,468 is not only the best ever for Allen but also the best of 2011 and the 15th highest of all time.” Sony expanded the film early due to the success, screening in a total of 147 theaters by early Jun 2011.
       The film opened to generally positive reviews. Var noted the “undeniably populist appeal, light as meringue and twice as sweet, in the pic’s arm’s-reach sophistication,” and lauded Wilson’s “unassuming charm.” Kenneth Turan of LAT , who admitted to reviewing Allen’s last dozen films poorly, called the film Allen’s “warmest, mellowest and funniest venture in far too long.” In a mixed review, HR feared Allen’s latest was “unlikely to connect with those with no knowledge of or feel for the Paris of the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso.” However, the film drew record audiences for Allen, and an 18 Aug 2011 HR article reported that Sony Pictures Classics was set to “re-expand” the film to an “additional 500 to 600 theaters” on 26 Aug 2011 in order to capitalize on a “late-summer rush.”
       Midnight in Paris eventually became Allen’s biggest box-office success to date, grossing over $84 million worldwide, and $55 million domestically, according to a 28 Nov 2011 Var article. The film was named by AFI as one of the Top 10 Movies of the Year. In Jan 2012, Allen won a Golden Globe Award for “Best Screenplay,” and the film was later nominated for the following Academy Awards: “Best Picture,” “Best Art Direction,” “Best Directing,” and “Best Writing (Original Screenplay).”
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