Ukraine
Film Locations to choose from within an hour of Kiev include the following:
Numerous industrial and run down Soviet era factories, unfinished stadiums, huge interior bus parking lots. Classical Soviet style (futuristic) architectural master-pieces. Great variety of very production friendly metro stations. Sport venues of all kinds, including a soccer stadium that seats 82,000. Traditional European streets and squares - from Classic European to Eastern Bloc. Soviet style apartment blocks. Large river (at one point over five kilometres wide) with a great coastal diversity including picturesque lost-in-the-woods beaches, traditional passenger and cargo river ports, plus a number of very impressive bridges. Large variety of city parks - nineteen parks located within the city limits. Traditional Orthodox churches of various sizes and styles. The Pirogovo area offers traditional Russian, Ukrainian, Polish village houses, churches and windmills of several epochs surrounded by a picturesque forest. Numerous museums, theatres, the National Opera, large exhibition centres of the Soviet era and much more.
Traveling outside of Kiev you will find:
Crimea - Mediterranean looking coast. Impressive mountains and caves. One of Europe’s largest botanic gardens with thousands of exotic plants from all over the world. Numerous palaces and castles dating to back to various periods including summer palaces of the 17-19th century Czars, and Turkish and Greek castles of the13-15th centuries. Crimea has a subtropical climate with very long summer shoot days.
Lviv - Probably the most beautiful city in the Ukraine. Often compared to Prague. Famous for a large number of impressive Catholic churches, traditional Polish palaces, narrow cobblestone streets. Great for authentic old-European looks. Lviv enjoys close proximity to the Carpathian mountains which offer several ski resorts.
Permits. With the right approach virtually any location is possible; with the obvious high security exceptions. Ultimately it comes down to money. Regular street permission usually takes around one week, but we file for permission for several streets, so that you have options even up to the final days before the shoot. Important city owned enterprises such as metro stations also require around one weeks notice.
When to shoot? Ukraine 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. On Average the Ukraine costs 20% less than Romania, 40% less than Prague or Hungary and much less than western Europe. The Ukraine is certainly one of the most cost efficient options in the world for unique and European looks.
Talent is non-union and negotiable. The price range for talent categories in the Ukraine is quite extensive, mostly due to the absence of unions. Most of the models and actors do not charge any buyouts. The average price for a main part (key actor) varies from 250EUROS to 600EUROS per shooting day, depending on how recognized the talent is. Featured extras and background actors usually charge no more than 100-200EUROS per shooting day, depending on the script requirements. A regular extra costs 15-25EUROS per shooting day, depending on the number of hours on set. Large quantities of key actors and/or extras is one of the main factors that often attracts foreign productions to come to the Ukraine. However, if you do make key actors sign a contract that states “the territory of the world” they are more likely to ask for a higher flat fee. We usually negotiate deals within 1,000-2,000EUROS, though in the case of top models/renowned actors there are exceptions.
The Ukraine offers mainly a variety of Caucasian looks. There are distinct Slavic faces (mostly eastern Ukraine, with a heavy influence of Russian blood) as well as typically European looks (western Ukraine, heavily influenced by Polish, German and Hungarian blood). There are quite a few African looks in the country, dating back from Communist times, when a lot of students from Africa were coming to the Ukraine in search of a free education; many of them had children, so there’s a younger generation as well. However, these people are rarely professional actors/models. Asian faces can also be found throughout the Ukraine as a result of Soviet migration of people from various republics of the USSR. Many Kazakh, Taddzhik, Uzbek and Turkmen people can be found in the Ukraine, as well as quite a few Mongolians and Chinese. These people are also rarely professional actors/models. So if you require a key actor / model of non-Caucasian appearance, we recommend you bring them in from abroad. However, background parts and extras can be definitely found locally.
For examples of locally available talent looks please see:
L Models
Prestige
Intermodels
Creative talent. The Ukraine has a rather limited pool of local directors, directors of photography and stills photographers. 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.
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews are also non-union. There are some very experienced crews (light/grip, art department, but less in special effects, table top). Only heads of departments usually speak fluent English.
Fringes. No hidden extras.
Premiums. The Ukraine works on a
10 hour shoot day. No limitations of any sort. No premiums for working nights, weekends or holidays. Overtime starts only after 18 hours straight of work.
Equipment. Most camera / lighting equipment is supplied by Arri. All standard film equipment (cameras, dollies, cranes, lenses) are available. Special systems such as Motion Control or Time-Slice are missing, but we would bring in the Moco from our suppliers in Poland. For more information please see:
Illuminator (Official Panavision representative in the Ukraine)
There are also two companies dealing only with hi-end grip equipment, including the world-famous inventors and producers of the ‘Russian Arm’, which to be factually correct should be called the 'Ukrainian Arm'. For more information on locally available equipment please see:
Filmotechnic
Operatech
Art department and set construction. Our partner's in-house art department crew has worked on over two-hundred service jobs over the last six years. They have experience in building sets of enormous size and complexity, including numerous miniatures.
Studios. There are 3 basic ex-Soviet era film studios, the largest of which, Dovzhenko Studio, features one of the largest sound stages in the Ukraine with a total area of 2,560 square metres and ceiling height of 22 meters. Even though the condition of these Soviet stages could be better, they are often rented when constructions of enormous size are needed. There are several other newly built studio complexes, including a 1000 square metre space which is currently in the long-term lease of our Ukrainian partner.
Backlots. There are no backlots in the Ukraine at present. There are several museums of architecture, featuring authentic eastern European countryside housing.
Tax Incentives. At the moment taxes for foreign jobs are zero rated.
Film Stock. Kodak film is available from the local kodak office.
Post Production. Ukraine has a new Kodak lab for film processing.
The following Ukrainian post houses offer telecine, offline and online:
The Chimney Pot Kiev
Condor Kiev
Visas and Work Permits. No visas/work permits required for the citizens of: EU, USA, Canada, Japan, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Iceland and Switzerland. Contact your local Ukrainian embassy / representative for more information.
Transportation Infrastructure is all up to known and expected world standards. Several international airlines service flights to the Ukraine.
Accommodation. Recommended hotels in Kiev include:
Five Stars:
Hyatt Regency Kiev
Premier Palace Hotel
Opera Hotel
Four Stars:
Radisson SAS Hotel Kiev
Riviera Hotel
Dnipro Hotel
Three Stars:
Vozdvizhensky Hotel
President Hotel
Rus Hotel
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organize serviced apartments.
Communication. Web posted casting, scouting and videoconferencing.
Safety. The Ukraine 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 the Ukraine, 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 the Ukraine, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer in Ukraine, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
