Hungary
Film Locations. Baroque and classical architecture, palaces and castles, airport, roller coaster, hills, lakes including the largest lake in Central Europe Lake Balaton, Danube river, forests, traditional villages, Eastern Bloc architecture, Turkish baths. Budapest often doubles for Vienna.
Permits. Most locations only take a few days for permission. Officially it takes three weeks to shut streets but with the right local connections permitting can be fast-tracked if necessary.
When to shoot? Hungary has 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.
Please contact us for more specific weather and sun path information.
Costs. Hungary is less expensive then Western Europe. It is roughly on par with Czech making it one of the more expensive former Eastern Bloc service centres. It is on average 20% more expensive than
Romania and 30% more expensive than the Ukraine. Hungary is a member of the EU does not trade in the EURO yet.
The cost of filming in Hungary has increased noticeably in recent years
due to combined pressures of the currency appreciating and more
experienced crews charging accordingly.
Talent is non-union and buyouts are negotiable.
Depending on the exchange rate the main costs of talent are as follows:
Lead day rate: 800-1500EUR/12hr day
Child: 200EUR /12hr day
Featured Extra: 100EUR/12hr day
Extra: 40EUR/12hr day
Hungary has a variety of talent looks available locally. 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 the local talent looks please visit the following:
Karakter - http://www.karaktercasting.hu
Creative talent. Hungary has a rather limited pool of local directors, directors of photography and stills photographers.
Its close proximity to major European production centres allows
easy access to those pools of creative talent should you ever need to
look further.
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews are also non-union. Hungary has some exceptional crews who have extensive experience and
speak fluent English.
Fringes. Crew
members are independent contractors. As far as crew fringes are
concerned there is no workers compensation or payroll tax.
Premiums. Hungary works on a
twelve-hour shoot day. This includes a 45 minute lunch break. After 12 hours there is an overtime fee of 20 Euro/hour/person. Turnaround is 10 hours. No night premiums. Public holidays are double time.
Equipment. Hungary has rental houses that stock both Arri and Panavision equipment. All of the standard cameras, lights and cranes are available locally. Hungary also has motion control, Giraffe and Pegasus.
Art department and set construction. One of the main areas that sets Hungary apart from the rest of the world
is it's world renowned art department. Construction teams are among the best in
central Europe.
Studios. There are several large modern studios in Hungary. For more information please see the following links:
BK Film Studio
Stern Film Studio
Korda Studio
Backlots. There are several backlots in Hungary including Hamlet's Castle, a Medieval village, part of Notre Dam Paris, a concentration camp and a present day New York City street.
Tax Incentives. Foreign production companies shooting feature films, TV series, documentaries, and music videos in Hungary are entitled to a 20% rebate of their total production costs (pre-post production, accommodation, etc). At present there are no incentives for commercials.
For details, please click here to see the Hungarian Film Law document.
Also, foreign productions are not charged the VAT. Our partner pays the VAT and is reimbursed at a later date.
Film Stock. Both Fuji and Kodak are available locally.
Post Production. Please see here for post production facilities available in Hungary.
Gyar
Focus Fox
Film Lab
Visas and Work Permits. Hungary is a member of the EU. Only certain countries need visas and there is no need for work permits for foreign crews. Contact your local Hungarian embassy / representative for more information.
Transportation Infrastructure is up to known and expected European standards. Hungary is serviced by several international and low cost airlines.
Accommodation. Recommended hotels in Budapest include:
Hotel Palazzo Zichy
Lanchid 19
Opera Garden Hotel & Apartments
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organise serviced apartments.
Communication. Web posted casting, scouting and videoconferencing.
Safety. Hungary is a very safe and reliable filming centre.
Projects. For an example of TV commercials, online advertising, corporate videos, stills campaigns, feature films, TV series and documentaries shot in Hungary, please see below:
Our production service companies, line producers and fixers have serviced TV commercials, online advertising, corporate videos, stills campaigns, feature films, TV series and documentaries for:
AXA Belgium, BBC UK, Canon Singapore, Coca Cola Indonesia, Concord Canada, Dove Malaysia, Deutche Bank Germany, Dressman Sweden, Evian France, HBO USA, Heineken Ireland, Hyundai Korea, Intercontinental Hotels Global, ITC India, Kirin Japan, Kraft USA, Landrover UK, LG Korea, Meunil China, McDonalds Australia, MUFG Japan, Nikon Hong Kong, Nokia China, Orange Moblie Slovakia, Philips Netherlands, Proctor & Gamble USA, Chery Riich China, Rimowa Germany, Samsung Korea, Sinoland Hong Kong, Skipper Italy, Smirnoff USA, Sony United Arab Emirates, Stella Russia, Telefonica Spain, Vidal Sassoon China, Virgin Media UK, and much more.
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer in Hungary, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
