When U.K.-based Camelot Films’ “Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher” was forced to relocate to Lithuania earlier this year, after the film’s Welsh financing fell through, executive producer Kestu…
Foreign producers are drawn to a country whose evocative landscapes — ancient forests, rolling dunes, freshwater lakes and historic sites — can facilitate a wide range of stories. The capital, Vilnius, “is very rich in terms of different bits of architecture, different bits of history,” says location manager Jonas Špokas of Baltic Locations. The city has doubled as Stockholm for “Young Wallander” and St. Petersburg for Nent Group’s drama series “With One Eye Open.
Despite the pandemic, last year was the most successful year for the Lithuanian film industry since the introduction of the tax credit in 2014. That partly reflects the carryover from a breakthrough 2019, notes Drazdauskas, when Lithuania hosted “Chernobyl,” Sky and HBO’s historical series “Catherine the Great” and the Netflix period drama “The Last Czars.
Much of the credit belongs to the country’s 30% tax incentive, which has a minimum spend of just €43,000 and is both efficient and easy to access, according to Gabija Siurbyte, of production company Dansu, which last year serviced the local shoot for Netflix’s Swedish crime series “Clark,” starring Bill Skarsgard. “It’s very easy to understand, and it’s easily done compared to other countries,” she says. “You don’t need to wait in line.
If there’s any uncertainty in Vilnius these days, it’s around whether the industry could become a victim of its own success. “One of the obstacles to grab bigger productions here is the infrastructure,” says Drazdauskas. “We don’t have that many soundstages. Any major production that moves in leaves no room for others.
As with elsewhere in Europe, surging demand for crews is driving prices up, although Lithuania is still competitive with other regional production hot spots. The industry is heavily invested in training more skilled workers. “The number of people in the industry is going up in all the departments,” says Siurbyte, something that’s having a knock-on effect for local storytellers looking to “put Lithuania on the map” as a production force. “Our creatives are growing and learning.
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