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When Créa TV was first contacted to film Oriana in Vietnam, our crew was wrapping the Warner Horizon USA’s the Bachelor shot in Da Nang – Central Vietnam and I had to leave in a rush to the North to greet VIPs from Paramount Pictures to scout with them in Ha noi and Halong Bay for yet another Big Production.

Oriana is a 2 episode primetime TV movie for Italian national network Rai Uno produced by Fandango, Italy’s leader in feature film production. I actually received Valeria Licurgo – Oriana supervising producer’s  – email sitting on a skiff in the spectacular terrestrial Halong Bay with Paramount’s mega Production Designer James Bissell whose credits include E.T. the extraterrestrial.

Valeria was looking for a company who could deliver services in Southeast Asia to line produce the climatic scenes of Oriana, 2 episodes about the life of Oriana Fallacci.  The female journalist started her larger than life career interviewing Hollywood super stars such as Orson Welles then shifted to politics with interviews such as both Henry Kissinger, and North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap during the Vietnamese-American War.

Valeria told me that Fandango had been trying to work with a Thai company to shoot Oriana on location in Thailand because Fandango never thought it would be possible to shoot the film in Vietnam where the action actually took place in Saigon 1967 and at the battle of Dak To, in the Central Highlands. The challenge was incredible as we had minimal time to lock all locations and permits considering it was a period piece and we needed the support of the Vietnamese People’s Army to use explosives,  an air force base and flying vintage Huey helicopter.

Irene Trinh, Créa TV’s feature films producer and her team did an amazing work leading an army of more the 150 crew, talents and extras and “made it happen” as Valeria told her just after calling the wrap on the last shot. The shoot took us back in the 60’s with antique vehicles from Cho Lon where we reconstituted the aftermath of a bomb explosion, to the legendary Continental hotel in Saigon, to the jungles and forests of Madagui where we reenacted the battle of Dak To with cannons, machine guns, and explosives to end flying a Huey helicopter at Bien Hoa military air force base.

Today, we know with certitude that Créa TV can make it happen for you too.

Othello Khanh, Ho Chi Minh City, 20 March 2014