Finland
Locations. Finland is known for its forests, lakes, archipelago, manors, castles and of course Lapland. SnowCastle during the winter months.
Lapland has total darkness between the 3rd of December to 8th of January making it perfect for night shoots. The sun does not rise above the horizon. After this the days become longer quickly. During the day time magic hour light exists for hours.
For an example of locations, please see here to download a commercial shot in Lapland: http://homepage.mac.com/wheretoshoot/Sonera.zip
Permits. Finland has a film friendly and streamlined permitting process. There are no extraordinary rules or restrictions. Typically permission for filming in major cities takes five working days to process but this can always be rushed if necessary.
When to shoot? Finland has a typical four-season climate - warm summers, colourful leaves in fall, white winters, and spring in full bloom.
For monthly weather statistics please see here: http://www.gaisma.com/en/dir/fi-country.html
Please contact us for more specific weather and sun path information.
Costs. Finland is 10-20% less expensive to shoot than the other Scandinavian countries. Location and equipment costs are more or less the same. The main difference is in the general labour costs and over time costs. To elaborate, Finland crews work a ten-hour day and have lower fees. In Sweden crews work an eight-hour day and fees are 15% higher. Denmark crews work an eight-hour day and fees are 20% higher. Norway crews work a ten-hour day and fees are 20% higher than Finland.
Finland is a member of the EU and trades in the Euro.
Talent. Finland offers both a union and non-union option. Amateur actors and featured extras are non-union. Buyouts are 50% of day rate for Baltic countries, 50% for Scandinavia, 50% for Russia, 100% for Europe and 500% for worldwide. But it is always possible to negotiate with union actors.
Finland offers mostly Caucasian looks. Its close proximity to other major European production centres allows easy access to those pools of talent should you ever need to look further. To view an example of some of local talent looks please visit the following:
Paparazzi Model Management - http://www.paparazzi.fi/
Roolituspalvelu - http://www.roolituspalvelu.fi/
Popular - http://www.popular.fi/
Azzurro Models - http://www.azzurromodels.fi
Creative talent. Finland has a good pool of good local English speaking directors, directors of photography and stills photographers, several being of the highest international standard.
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews are non-union. Crews speak fluent English and are very experienced much like the rest of Western Europe.
Fringes. Finland does have a social security system and pension cover system but all of this is already covered in the budget.
Premiums. For crew, Finland works on a ten-hour shoot day. The next two hours are time and a half and double time after that. There is no difference between a day or night shoot. Holidays and Sundays are at slightly higher rates. Talent receives a flat day rate but if it’s a longer day then we need to negotiate a rate for that.
Equipment. Finland is Arri based and has all the standard cameras, lights and cranes available locally. Wescam would need to be brought in from London and motion control MILO from Stockholm or Copenhagen.
Art department and set construction is at Western European standards in Finland. Over fifteen local feature films are shot every year. The recent Eurovision Song Contest is another example of the scale of construction possible in Finland.
Studios. Finland has three main studios. The facilities are good. For more information please visit the below.
Angel Films - http://www.angelfilms.com/
Telakkastudiot - http://www.telakkastudiot.fi/
Backlots. At present no backlots exist in Finland.
Tax Incentives. There are no tax incentives for feature films or commercials in Finland.
Film Stock. Both Fuji and Kodak are available locally.
Post Production. Post production in Finland is up to world standards. For more information see the below listed.
Generator Post - http://www.generator.fi/
Fake Graphics - http://www.fakegraphics.com/
Toast Post - http://www.toastpost.com/
Our partner also has their own Final Cut Pro editing suite.
Visas and Work Permits. Only certain countries need visas and there is no need for work permits. Contact your local Finnish embassy / representative for more information.
Transportation. Finland has a very well established transportation infrastructure with 24 airports and 190 domestic flights a day (30 per day to the north) as well as 54 railway stations across the country. Domestic Flights are serviced by Finnair, Blue 1, Air Åland, and FinnComm Airlines. Please visit here for information about international flight carriers. http://www.helsinki-vantaa.fi/airlines
Accommodation. Film friendly hotels include:
Klaus K - http://www.klauskhotel.com/
Kämp - http://www.hotelkamp.fi/en/Index/
Snowcastle - http://www.snowcastle.net/en/
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organize serviced apartments.
Communication. We work all of our casting, locations and conferencing online. Videos, photos and live stream.
Safety. Finland is as safe and reliable a filming centre as the other Nordic countries - it is one of the safest countries in the world.
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer in Finland, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
