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Hungary on screen: The surprising rise of a European film powerhouse
When most people think of Hungary, they picture goulash, thermal baths, or maybe a ruin pub on a Friday night. What doesn’t usually make the list is the fact that Hungary has quietly become one of Europe’s busiest film and television hubs. Yet the numbers, the studios, and the productions speak for themselves: this country is now a serious player in global screen culture.
Author: Phil Trasolini
Blockbuster numbers
In 2019, Hungary hit a record-breaking USD 565 million (~HUF 164 billion) in film and television production spending. To put that in perspective, it represented a 50% jump from the year before, and a staggering 94% of that spending came from international productions. Hollywood, in other words, has Hungary on speed dial.
The momentum hasn’t slowed. Industry analysts suggest that 2024 could be the year Hungary passes the USD 1 billion mark in production spend. That would be unprecedented for the country and would cement its position among Europe’s most important production destinations. The industry now employs close to 20,000 people, a remarkable figure for a nation of just under 10 million.
Why Hungary? The simple math of savings
Foreign producers aren’t flooding into Hungary for the paprika alone. The single biggest draw is the 30% tax rebate on all eligible production expenses. The system is streamlined, transparent, and efficient, which makes it extremely attractive for international studios trying to keep budgets under control.
Add to that the lower labour and production costs compared with Western Europe or North America, and the savings become dramatic: shooting in Hungary can be 25% cheaper than in the UK and 35% cheaper than in the United States. In an era of ballooning streaming budgets, that’s the kind of math executives love.
Studios to rival Hollywood
The financial incentives would mean little without the infrastructure to back them up. But Hungary has invested heavily in this area. The National Film Institute’s complex in Fót recently expanded with four brand-new studios, bringing total capacity to over 12,000 square meters. Origo Studios in Budapest remains one of the largest facilities in Central Europe, boasting sound stages, water tanks, and extensive green-screen capacity.
This infrastructure has made Hungary a natural home for big-budget projects. From Denis Villeneuve’s Dune to Blade Runner 2049, from The Witcher to Shadow and Bone, the list of international productions that have filmed here reads like a Netflix “Top 10” menu.
A growing talent pool
While international money continues to dominate, the local workforce is no longer just a supporting act. By 2024, around 80% of crews working on productions in Hungary were Hungarian nationals. And the world has taken notice. Set designers Zsuzsanna Sipos (Dune) and Zsuzsa Mihalek (Poor Things) both earned Oscars in recent years, evidence that the country’s technical talent is now competing at the very highest level.
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