Hungary to become a global superstar of film production?

If Hungary plays its cards right, the country could easily become one of the most popular locations for production services.

Hungary and especially Budapest are already well-known and sought-after in the international world of film production and, more precisely, in the field of production services. The Hungarian capital is one of the favourite locations of Marvel to create the company’s newest productions, but Netflix also regularly enjoys the advantages of shooting in the country.

Hungary everywhere – in a Netflix series, for instance

Very soon, the international film production scene may further profit from these advantages offered by Hungary and its studios.

In Mogyoród, Astra Filmland, the biggest development ever of the Hungarian film sector, is currently in progress, with a 40-billion-forint investment (over 112 and a half million euros).

Another project will soon start in Fót. Although the municipality of Budakalász rejected the idea of a studio there, investors are still very interested and might try again in the near future.

This is especially relevant after the past year of the coronavirus pandemic that hit the film sector hard, which led to the suspension of many shoots. Netflix, Amazon, HBO or Marvel/Disney will still make their series and movies, which creates an abundance of ideas and completed scripts ready to be transformed into a motion picture. As a consequence,

there is a global need for the best, biggest, most equipped, and most professional studios.

Telex.hu points out how Hungary is reacting quickly and efficiently to this demand.

When it comes to a big Hollywood film of high quality with A-list actors, it is financially more profitable to build up the scene in a studio and save time for the Hollywood superstars working for huge amounts of money. Apart from LA, Canada, and London, Budapest and its surroundings are the most popular locations to rent production services.

Almost 100 productions are created every year in the small country.

Manager of business development of Pioneer Pictures Productions Vivien Lászlóffy said that “English, German, and French productions are also made in the outskirts of Budapest; furthermore, Indian and Chinese producers are also starting to appear in the country”.

One of the other reasons for Hungary to surpass Prague in business is the support system introduced in 2004. It is quite simple: after every 100 forints paid by a foreign film crew to a Hungarian production service company, the crew gets 30 forints back.
All this contributed to the production of popular movies in Budapest, such as The Spy Who Dumped Me, World War Z, or Blade Runner 2049. Of course, these films brought the biggest Hollywood stars, like Brad Pitt or Bruce Willis, to the Hungarian capital.

This system of financial support benefited the country as well. Restaurants and hotels serving the crews and the actors, as well as the whole of tourism, are all grateful.

And so are about 20 thousand Hungarians who continuously work for Netflix, Amazon, Showtime, and TNT, shooting in the country.

Currently, there are five smaller and bigger production companies working in the country, some of them under development works. They are complemented with two newcomers, among which one was refused by Budakalász a while ago (for now). Hungexpo, on the other hand, already provided a location for some shoots. 

Read alsoYou can run into these Hollywood stars in Budapest

Source: telex.hu, pioneer.hu