Oct 24, 2006, 16:07 GMT
Valletta - Malta is doubling for different parts of the Roman Empire, including Rome, Ostia and Pompeii, in a major BBC TV children's series Roman Mysteries, being shot on the Mediterranean island nation.
Filming has been going on since September 20 in various locations around the island and on the smaller island of Gozo.
Maltese Investments Minister Austin Gatt, visiting the filming site on Tuesday, said Roman Mysteries was the biggest audio-visual production being shot in Malta in a year that has seen a nearly twofold increase in audio-visual activity compared to last year, Gatt said.
That figure he said does not count the filming of Steven Spielberg's film Munich, which alone involved an expenditure of some nine million dollars.
So far this year there were 141 filming days, a 22 per cent increase over the previous year, Gatt said.
For the next 12 months, he continued, already 160 days of shooting have been signed up and the government's film commission is working with other producers to extend even that.
Gatt said the film industry has the potential of creating more permanent jobs, adding that there is no reason why international producers should not find creative and technical skills in the country.
In recent years Malta has served as the location for major film productions including Troy starring Brad Pitt, The Count of Monte Cristo with James Caviezel and Spielberg's Munich with Geoffrey Rush.
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