Poland
Film Locations. Situated in the geographic centre of Europe, Poland offers a great diversity of European landscapes and architecture. From the Baltic Sea in the north, the Mazurian Great Lakes in the north-east, the forests and modern cities in the heart of the country, to the various mountain looks in the south. Architecture in Poland ranges from early Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classic, Soviet, Modernist and Contemporary. Poland is famous for its many well maintained castles.
There are three main cities of filming interest in Poland:
Warsaw. A modern city with a full variety of easily accessible urban and suburban looks. Warsaw offers a unique old quarter and is also well known for its abundance of parks, woodland and meadows inside the city. Warsaw's terraced houses have doubled for Berlin looks. Warsaw is the main production centre so all crew and equipment must travel from there.
Krakow. Probably the most charming and picturesque city in Poland. Many have dubbed it Prague without the high costs or tourists. The Tatar mountains are a one hour drive away. Krakow offers many unique and undiscovered European filming locations.
Wroclaw is the fastest developing Polish city and is becoming an important centre for film and TV production. Famous for its rivers and channels it has doubled for 19th century Amsterdam. It is also known for its charming palaces and castles as well as beautiful green areas.
Permits. No extraordinary restrictions or rules apply.
When to shoot? Poland has
a typical four-season climate - warm summers,
colourful leaves in fall, white winters, and spring in full bloom. May to October are the best months for spring / summer looks and November to April offer snow in the mountains.
For monthly weather statistics please see here.
Please contact us for more specific weather and sun path information.
Costs. Poland on average is much more cost effective then Western Europe and slightly more cost effective then Czech or Hungary. Poland is typically more expensive then Latvia, Ukraine or Romania however film making is much more established. Poland does not yet trade in the Euro.
Talent is non-union and buyouts are negotiable.
Poland 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 local talent looks please visit the following:
Models:
Carol Models
SPP Models
Actors:
Gudejko
Passa
Prozano
Creative talent. Poland has a small but impressive pool of local directors, directors of photography and stills photographers. Some DoP examples include Slawomir Idziak,
Janusz Kaminski and Pawel Edelman. Its close proximity to other major European production centres allows
easy access to those pools of creative talent should you ever need to
look further.
There are two big agencies representing Polish film makers:
Point of You
Knock Knock
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews. Some units are union and some non-union. Polish crews are quite experienced and speak English. Crew costs are very competitive compared to Western Europe.
Fringes. All of our crew
members are independent contractors. As far as crew fringes are
concerned there is no workers compensation or payroll tax.
Premiums. Poland works on a
twelve-hour shoot day. Crew does not deduct lunch so there is eleven
hours of shooting time. There are no night, holiday or weekend premiums.
Equipment. Poland is Panavision based. For recommended local camera houses see:
Panavision
Non Stop Film Service
Art department and set construction is quite strong in Poland. As an example Poland has played host to films such as Speilberg's Schindler's List, Lynch's Inland Empire and Mike van Diem's Character.
Studios. Several good options exist including:
Hollywood
Studio Tecza
Studio Fox
Farat Film
Backlots. At present there are no backlots in Poland.
Tax Incentives. There are no
tax incentives for foreign feature films or commercials shooting in Poland. Our local
producer gets VAT returned and that is not charged to the client.
Film Stock. Both Fuji and Kodak are available locally.
Post Production. Poland has a variety of post production facilities and two labs providing full service from developing, telecine and colour-correction up to printing cinema releases copies. See examples:
Lab
The Chimney Pot
Visas and Work Permits. Poland is a member of the EU. Only certain countries need visas and there is no need for work permits. Contact your local Polish embassy / representative for more information.
Transportation Infrastructure is all up to known and expected world standards. LOT operates domestic flights between all major cities. Direct flights to Poland are available from several international and regional budget airlines.
Accommodation. Recommended hotels in Warsaw include:
Sheraton
Marriott
Intercontinental
Hotel Rialto
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organize serviced apartments.
Communication. Web posted casting, scouting and videoconferencing.
Safety. Poland 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 Poland, 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 Poland, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
