William Mosley finds Narnia in Greenwich Village

By Wickham Boyle

William Mosley is the 18-year-old Brit who plays the oldest brother Peter in the smash hit “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the first story in C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia.” After garnering great reviews and an ardent following of teen screamers, Mosley took the autumn off from his life in England to explore acting classes and wander the streets of Greenwich Village. Just like the Narnia story, Mosley’s energy makes one truly believe that he finds wonder behind every cupboard door. His excitement and joy colors everything he encounters here, from acting classes to cup cakes to Downtown street life. I recently spoke to the young actor about his enthusiasm for the Village, before he left for New Zealand to shoot the second Narnia film.

Why did you choose to stay in the Village?

I knew I wanted to be in the Village — well, really to be Downtown. I have been terrifically happy here. It is not the touristy New York one thinks of — all the bustling suits, crowds and the vertical skyscraper skylines. I am from a rural part of England, from the Cotswold’s and the little hippy town I am from makes me feel at home in the Village. Here, like at home, someone is always showing his or her art or playing music outside or in a café. It was great for me to grow up in a place where it was evident that there were choices of work for those of us who were not brilliant in math or science. I was always surrounded by creative types and that makes me very at home in the Village.

So what places do you love?

I absolutely love going to brunch. I have several places I splash out on: The Grey Dog, a tiny place on Carmine Street; they change the art, luckily, because I am more of a cat person and they had these great huge slobbering dogs on the walls and now they have a calmer version of dog art. I love French toast and also an egg and bacon breakfast I call a heart attack on a plate. I like Jane on Houston Street ­— a little more up market but I am still just eating pancakes there.

And being in New York City rather than taking this time in London means it is more upbeat, as London can be so rainy and the buildings are close. Another big draw is that New York is not an hour and a half from my parents by train, so I am really surviving on my own.

You did have a plan beyond breakfast, right?

I came to hone my craft a bit before I head off to New Zealand for the next installment of Narnia, “Prince Caspian.” I find the atmosphere here, in New York so motivating. It’s funny, I knew I would have one class to take with Sheila Gray, but I worried I wouldn’t be busy enough, and now I am constantly doing scenes with people from my classes, going to theater and the movies.

For me acting is so much about confidence. If you believe you are good enough you give that off and it makes you actually better. So studying with a teacher where I am being exposed to method and sensory work seems to have moved my acting to a different level.

What’s next after the Village?

Well, I leave for New Zealand at the end of January, and then we shoot there and in Prague, Slovenia and Poland. This role is going to be very physical, with lots of battles. I have been training in Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn. It is a place where they see me, as rather smallish boy with a funny accent, and they make me earn my respect there. I have been studying sword fighting as well, which is sort of a dream come true because when I was a boy my mum wouldn’t let me fight or kick box because she thought I’d just use it against my sister. Now I am getting to do it all.

Narnia Sequel Prince Caspian Qualifies as British Film

Disney and Walden Media’s Narnia sequel Prince Caspian will qualify as a British film under the UK’s new cultural test, despite the fact that the majority of filming will take place in the Czech Republic.

New location for Narnia

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THE next instalment of the Chronicles of Narnia will not be filmed in New Zealand, but on the other side of the world.

Prince Caspian, sequel to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe filmed in New Zealand in 2004 is to be made at Pinewood studios in England, Britain's The Times newspaper reported.

As recently as late last month the Narnia website reported the movie would be filmed in New Zealand in February and March next year.

Post-production was to be done in Prague, Czech Republic, the website said.

New Zealander Andrew Adamson, who made the first movie, will also direct Prince Caspian.

However, The Times reported recently introduced tax breaks available to overseas filmmakers played an important role in switching the movie to England.

The decision will have a devastating affect on New Zealand, potentially leaving around 200 crew jobless.

The Dominion Post reports that the five-week shoot alone was worth at least $NZ10 million ($A8.7 million) to the NZ industry.

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NZ role in Narnia film secure

The producer of the Prince Caspian film says there's been no change to New Zealand's involvement in the film.

New Zealander Tim Coddington says reports Disney has axed plans to make the sequel to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe here are wrong.

He says he understands the role New Zealand will play in the film is still the same and details are expected this week.

The chief executive of Film New Zealand Judith McCann says the industry always knew the film's entire production would not be based in New Zealand.

Film industry awaits Narnia decision

The film industry expects to hear this week whether the sequel to "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" will be made in New Zealand.

It is being reported that Disney has abandoned its plans to film Prince Caspian here, opting to use Britain's Pinewood Studios instead.

The reports say that could leave about 200 crew members without work.

However, the executive director of the New Zealand Screen Council, Tim Thorpe, says no announcements have been made to the industry here.

He says people could find out what is happening in the next few days.

Mr Thorpe says changes to tax incentives for filmmakers in Britain may have a role in the decision.

Where Is Narnia Now?

here's been much ado over the last day or so about shooting on the next Narnia film (yawn) being set for the UK, and not - as was previously expected - New Zealand. As it finally shakes out, some shooting will be taking place down under, just not to the extent previously assumed. Plaintiffs yelped about lost New Zealand jobs while of course neglecting to mention the English craftspeople who would instead benefit. Wherever camp Narnia lays its hat, there's going to be work for people - and shooting in two locations can only mean more jobs, if smaller jobs, over all, surely?

Of course, there's also a third shooting location to be considered - and as I can see, it hasn't been reported at all yet. Prague's Barrandov studios will also be playing host to the Prince Caspian crew. Again, what size slice of the pie they will be served, I do not know (likely less than the UK, more than New Zealand) - but if the Limeys vs. Kiwis story is such a hot topic, I thought I better at least throw this into the mix too.

Now fight it out amongst yourselves, nationalists.

Where On Earth Is Narnia?

If you want to know where The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is being filmed, don’t read the papers. On 9 December the British newspaper The Times published a story saying that the sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was to be made at Pinewood Studios in Britain. According to The Times, the announcement was made by Andy Bird, President of Walt Disney International, at the Royal Television Society Dinner. Bird apparently said that shooting would begin in February and post-production would also be done in Britain.

"I don’t think we’ve announced this yet," he is quoted as saying.

Within days, though, The Times story was cast into doubt when Variety reported that Prince Caspian would shoot for six months at the Barrandov Studios in Prague. These facilities had previously been used for the new James Bond film, Casino Royale. When the story was picked up by Sci Fi Wire, it was presented as possibly contradicting the report in The Times. According to an article on the New Zealand website Stuff, the Czech Republic was one of the locations originally under consideration for the film.

The reports in Variety and The Times led to speculation that Disney had axed plans to make Prince Caspian in New Zealand, where the first Narnia film had largely been shot. Another report on Stuff, however, suggested that this was not the case. According to that story, Tim Coddington, unit production manager on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, told Radio New Zealand that reports of Disney making such a decision were wrong. The article also cited Film New Zealand chief executive Judith McCann as saying that it was always known that the production would not be entirely based in New Zealand.

The article on Stuff also referred to earlier reports on the official website for the Narnia films. These apparently said that filming would take place in New Zealand in February and March of 2007 and post production would happen in Prague. At the time of writing, Disney’s website for the series was saying that the film would "likely shoot in the forests of Europe" in January 2007.

Another website, KongIsKing.net, added to the speculation when it published comments from a "mysterious" contributor who called themselves N. This person had written to the site with a claim that was consistent with Coddington’s.

"I have spoken to a friend of mine working on pre-production for Prince Caspian, and she has dismissed this story as 'untrue' (to put it politely)," the contributor said. "Work is carrying on as normal."

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is scheduled for release on May 16, 2008.

Narnia goes to Britain

IGN.com - Britain's renowned Pinewood Studios will reportedly be the main production site for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Andy Bird, the president of Walt Disney International, made the announcement at a gathering of television executives, adding that filming would begin in February.

The news signals a change for the high-profile fantasy series, which had chosen New Zealand as the site of its first film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was thought that Prince Caspian might either film in New Zealand again, or in Ireland. The decision to shoot in England is linked to the introduction of tax relief in the country for movie productions. The British government hopes to lure the lucrative industry back to the island, as their formerly high taxation levels were driving production companies to cheaper locales — like New Zealand and Eastern Europe.

Given the news of a British production, fans and news sites began to speculate that New Zealand, which lent its beautiful scenic vistas to Narnia in the previous film, would be forgone altogether. That now appears not to be the case, however. As noted at Stuff.co.nz, a lot of pre-production work for Prince Caspian has already taken place at Weta Workshop and Walden Media's facilities in New Zealand. And according to Newswire.co.nz, some portion of the fantasy film will almost certainly be filmed in that country.

Given New Zealand's newfound reputation as a hotspot for fantasy filmmaking, the fact that director Andrew Adamson is a Kiwi, and Walden Media's heavy investment in the country, abandonment of New Zealand is unlikely. Details as to how large a role the country will play in Prince Caspian are expected in the coming weeks.