Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Russia's Exciting Film Industry.

THE FIRST REBATE IS PAID IN RUSSIA

The first subsidy for reimbursement of cinematography organizations – Rebate – in the history of Russia was paid in the Primorsky Region to the Mars Media film company, which shot a feature film “On the District” in Vladivostok in the fall of 2016.
Throughout the world, the system of rebate works very successfully. Drawing in this way the film crews, the city and regional authorities are counting on a good economic effect. During the filming of major projects, additional jobs are created, local personnel are attracted, profits are received by hotels, restaurants, transport companies serving film crews. Money is brought to the economy not only by film companies that work in the region, but also tourists, whose flow increases significantly after the release of a film, as happened with Dubrovnik (Croatia), after filming the series “The Game of Thrones”, or Istanbul (Turkey), after the release of the film “Inferno”.Now Primorye is preparing for the shooting of several projects. Shooting a feature film of the film company Good story media under the working title “To the End of the World” will be held in Vladivostok in mid-August. In September, the international film crew of the large-scale documentary project “Fatei and the Sea” will work on the islands of Peter the Great Bay. There is a search for locations for two Asian projects, which are scheduled for shooting in 2018.Local Primorye Film Commission  is engaged in organizing the filming process in the territory of Vladivostok and other cities of Primorye. The filming equipment within the region is provided to Russian companies on preferential terms. The Primorye Film Commission implements an affiliate program, whose participants – hotels, transport companies, catering companies, etc. – provide film crews with discounts up to 50% on their services.

On average, one Russian and two foreign projects are shooting annually in Primorye. The goal of the Film Commission is to create in the region comfortable conditions for the film industry, so that the number of projects increases every year.

Primorsky Region became the first region of Russia, where in 2016 a Resolution on Granting subsidies to cinematography organizations for reimbursement of part of the costs associated with the production of motion pictures on the territory of the region was passed.

In November 2016, the creation of a film commission in the Primorsky Region was supported by the Cinema Foundation. Also, the film commissions were established in the Kaliningrad and Astrakhan regions. In 2017, the Cinema Foundation supported three projects, which will be filmed in Vladivostok. This is the comedy “Ensky Robinson” company “2D Celluloid”, the main roles in which will perform Alexander Pal  and Mikhail Efremov. Filming will begin in August. In September, the comedy “Russian” produced by Georgy Shabanov and Rezo Gigineishvili will be launched. As of February 2018, the shooting of the sports drama “One Breath” of the film company “Public Opinion” is planned. Elena Khazanova will act as the director, Viktoriya Isakova and Yevgeny Mironov will play the main roles.

Why Film in Russia?

When it comes to Russia a potential visitor normally thinks of stereotypical cold winters and vast planes covered with snow. However, it’s much more diverse. Russia is the largest country in the world covering the territory of more than 17 000 000 sq. meters (10 000 000 sq. miles), spreading over 5 climate zones and 11 time zones. With that in mind one can literally find any landscape and weather he wants. That provides filmmakers with thousands of filming locations depending on their preferences and script.

The Russian landscape varies from subtropical coastline to frozen lakes, tall mountains to vast planes, deserts to deep forests. Russia has about 100,000 rivers, including some of the longest and most powerful in the world. It also has many lakes, including Europe’s two largest: Ladoga and Onega. Lake Baikal in Siberia contains more water than any other lake on Earth.

Russia’s climate varies dramatically, from the deep Arctic chill of the far north to the torrid desert heat of some inland areas further south. Winters in Russia’s European part are nothing like as terrifying as many myths have it. In Moscow and St. Petersburg the first snow usually falls in late November and stays till early April. Down south, Russia’s vast steppe is hot and dry. Winters are short but cold. But there are cities in Russia where the weather resembles the climate of the French Riviera or some American States. The Black Sea resort of Sochi makes up for the rest of the country with a sizzling 35°C (95° F) between June and August – it is Russia’s top summer holiday spot. The mountains of Caucasus also boast of welcoming climate with warm and sunny spring and autumn, rainy summer and rare snow in winter. On the other side of the Ural Mountains, Siberia – contrary to its popular image – isn’t the land of eternal ice. It does have a summer – actually quite a warm and pleasant one, with temperatures climbing to 20°C (68° F) and higher. But, winters are really cold. In the Far East, inland areas can get very hot with a tropical 40°C (104° F). Coastal regions are much cooler and wetter. Winter is normally milder than in Siberia.

No matter what landscape or season you are looking for Russia has it. To make your search easier we have a constantly updating database of Locations.

About

The Russian Office of Film Commissions was established in 2017 with the support of The Federal Agency for Tourism (Russiatourism) and The Federal State Unitary Enterprise «National marketing center for tourism Visit Russia». The organization actively cooperates with the regional governments of Moscow region, Saint-Petersburg, Leningrad oblast, Kaliningrad oblast, Tatarstan, Kaluga oblast and Primorsky krai film commission.

ROFC is an active member of Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI).

CEO – VAL KUPEEV

Listen to Russian Office of Film Commissions CEO Val Kupeev poolside interview on Indie Entertainment Podcast.

 

Photo credit:

Danill Silantev

 

Film in Russia