Victorine Studios (French: Studios de la Victorine) are a film studio in the French city of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

. They are also known as the Nice Studios. Several small studios have also existed in the city. Originally built in 1921 in an attempt to create a Hollywood-style studio on the French Riviera, the major figures behind the new venture were the producers Louis Nalpas and Serge Sandberg. Initially constructed in the early glasshouse style, the facility was soon converted into a more modern electrified design. It had seven

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

s. They worked in parallel with the other main French studios which were clustered in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. A key figure in the development of the Victorine was the producer Louis Nalpas. A second studio complex was located in Nice, Saint-Laurent-du-Var Studios which existed from 1920 to 1944. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the studios took on greater importance. Following the defeat of France, half of the country was occupied by Germany including the capital at Paris. Nice was located in the southern zone of

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

. Many technicians and actors fled south to avoid the Nazis, and found work in productions at the Victorine. Immediately after the war, the studios resumed their subordinate role to Paris and production there was irregular. For a while (2000–2017), they were managed by a private company and were renamed "Studios Riviera" but the city decided to repurchase them in November 2017 and restored their original name. On November 22, 2017, at the end of the public service delegation, the city of Nice took over the management of the studios23 which returned to their original name "les studios de la Victorine".

References

Bibliography

* Crisp, C.G. ''The Classic French Cinema, 1930-1960''. Indiana University Press, 1993. French film studios {{film-studio-stub