EMMA LEE A taste of Hollywood came to Norwich recently when the cast and crew of a new blockbuster descended on a historic city centre street. But, as EMMA LEE reports, it’s just one of many of the region’s treasures to star on the big screen.

EMMA LEE

Cobbled picture postcard pretty Elm Hill at the historic heart of Norwich is a honeypot for tourists. But daytrippers and holidaymakers aren't the only ones to fall for its charm. In June, thanks to a bit of Hollywood magic, it was transformed into a magical marketplace, and will light up the big screen - if only for a couple of minutes - in what is already being tipped as one of 2007's biggest blockbusters.

As well as familiar faces Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert de Niro, Sienna Miller and Claire Danes, familiar places such as the Britons Arms coffee shop will star in Stardust, a grown-up fairytale based on an award-winning story by Neil Gaiman.

The film is directed by 'Mr Claudia Schiffer' Matthew Vaughn, who also helmed the Brit flick Layer Cake and follows hero Tristan Thorn's (played by newcomer Charlie Cox) quest to find a fallen star for his beloved.

Of course the fine city had to have a bit of a makeover before it could step out into the spotlight. Following weeks of preparation and liaison with Norwich City Council, the buildings were given a lick of paint to age them, extras were drafted in and some computer generated imagery will be added to complete its transformation into a town in the fairy kingdom of Stormhold.

And just last week scenes of the big screen adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, which starts Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave were filmed out in the Fens.

Screen East, which has bases in Norwich and Hertfordshire, promotes the region as a location for film and TV productions and helps nurture local talent.

Funded by the UK Film Council and the East of England Development Agency, it also invests in the development of film, TV and digital media businesses based in the east of England.

Kerry Ixer, head of locations and inward investment at Screen East, says: “Film and TV production in the East of England injected some £25.9m into the local economy in 2005/2006.

“Not only did local businesses cash in on location filming, it provided opportunities to bring local residents together and raise community spirit - residents even starred as extras!”

Because Norfolk has studios like Anglia, world-class technicians are based here and the range of facilities and services available in Norfolk can support all types of production.

The county has a diverse range of locations to lure the filmmaker too - charming historic towns and villages, high clay cliffs, remote marsh coastlands, the silt expanses of the Wash and the wide, white sandy beaches.

Screen East deals with more than 200 inquiries a month from productions looking for a place to film, and its

location library has more than 7,000 locations - ranging from farms to courthouses, pubs to schools and flats to country houses.

And they're always looking for new properties - perhaps it could be yours starring on the big screen.

Film companies pay location owners to use their premises with fees ranging from several hundred to several thousand pounds a day depending upon the production and what they would like to do.

t Screen East is particularly looking for residential properties of all sizes, styles and conditions - occupied or empty - contemporary, sixties, thatched, terraced, apartments. To register, phone 01923 495051, e-mail locations@screeneast.co.uk or visit www.screeneast.co.uk

THE REGION ON THE BIG SCREEN

t The Go-Between - Melton Constable Hall became Brandham Hall, the setting for the 1970 film the Go-Between. Based on LP Hartley's novel it starred Julie Christie and Alan Bates.

t Iris - Southwold played a supporting role in this moving film about the life of novelist Iris Murdoch. The film, directed by Richard Eyre, was based on Murdoch's husband John Bayley's memoirs. The writer died in 1999 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Kate Winslet played her as a young writer in the 1950s, while Dame Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent played Murdoch and Bayley in later life.

t Eyes Wide Shut, The Hours, Tomb Raider - Elveden Hall near Thetford has featured in three major Hollywood films in recent years. Legendary director Stanley Kubrick shot a pivotal scene of his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, which starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman at the magnificent private stately home on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. It was also chosen for scenes in the computer-game adaptation Tomb Raider, which starred Angelina Jolie as the all-action heroine Lara Croft. And Julianne Moore shot some scenes of the Hours, which also starred Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep there.

t Shakespeare in Love - The final scene of the multi Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, where Gwyneth Paltrow walks along a beach after a shipwreck, was filmed at Holkham, near Wells. The film was directed by John Madden and starred Joseph Fiennes as the young bard, who's suffering from a severe case of writer's block. The cast also included Geoffrey Rush and Dame Judi Dench.

t Revolution - In the mid-1980s tinseltown came to King's Lynn when the town doubled up for New York in the big-budget historical drama Revolution. Many of the residents vied for a few seconds on the silver screen by working as extras and starring Al Pacino and Donald Sutherland it should have been a box office smash. Instead it turned out to be an expensive flop. In the 1990s there were rumours that Johnny Depp would be filming Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow in Lynn's Tuesday Market Place. Sadly it never happened.

t A Cock and Bull Story - Steve Coogan, the creator of Norfolk's most famous fictional son Alan Partridge returned to the county to film a Cock and Bull Story. Based on the Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne, it was director Michael Winterbottom's post-modern attempt to film a novel which was said to be un-filmable. Shooting took place in October 2004 at Felbrigg, Blickling and Heydon Halls and it also starred comedians Rob Brydon and David Walliams, Keeley Hawes, Gillian Anderson and Stephen Fry. A party was held at Felbrigg Hall, with the stars in attendance, to mark the film's DVD release.

t Die Another Day - Farmland at Burnham Deepdale in north-west Norfolk doubled up for an Asian paddy field in Die Another Day. A 007 double was drafted in for filming.

NORFOLK'S TOP LOCATIONS

t Holkham Beach.

t Cromer. Given the strong Victorian architectural influence Cromer is popular with period filming. Productions that have shot here include the Lost Prince, Holby City and Life Begins.

t Norfolk Broads. Britain's largest nationally protected wetland is a unique area of the region that has welcomed filming from PD James Mysteries and EastEnders.

t Heydon Hall.

t Hunstanton Beach. It's appeared in several TV programmes including Dad Savage and What We Still Don't Know, as well as Bollywood feature Chakri.