Allfilm, Estonia’s preeminent film production company that co-produced the Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated “Tangerines” and “The Fencer”, wants to attract more foreign productions to the country; the company has now launched a new website that gives a clear overview of what Estonia has to offer.
“Choosing the Baltic countries as the main shooting location is becoming more and more popular. When Christopher Nolan filmed ‘Tenet’ in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, it created a real buzz about the country worldwide,” Allfilm, the production company that has serviced numerous international productions, including “Tenet”, said in a statement.
But the company said that not very many people in the film industry know much about Estonia and the Baltics and has thus launched a new website that gives a clear overview of what Estonia has to offer.
Cash rebate
“We wanted to create a website that would not only showcase our great locations, but also be informative,” Ivo Felt, a producer and a partner at Allfilm, said. “We have highly professional crews and good infrastructure in place for filming around the year, however compared with other European countries, we are still relatively unknown in the film industry.”
In 2016, the Estonian Film Institute launched a cash rebate system, Film Estonia, to attract more international film productions to Estonia and therefore boost the local economy. The rebate fund will refund up to 30 per cent of local production costs depending on the degree of involvement of local professionals.
The number of international projects receiving the cash refund has grown slowly but steadily ever since. According to Felt, the country is willing and able to welcome even more.
Thomas Hayslip, the executive Producer of “Tenet”, said in a statement that Estonia’s rebate process was “competitive and effortless” that encouraged the film crew to stay longer and “take advantage of more great locations”. “The recoupment of our rebate was very fast and cooperative which made filming in Estonia a true pleasure,” Hayslip said.
Architecturally diverse
Allfilm said that filming in Estonia had many benefits. “It is cost effective compared with some of its neighboring countries, and architecturally, the region is remarkably diverse. Different styles and periods meet in a relatively small area.”
“Foreigners are often surprised how short the distances are in Estonia,” Felt said, citing that from the Tallinn airport, one can reach the city centre in 10 minutes and to the wild nature, it takes less than an hour. “This makes logistics and moving between locations straightforward and saves time.” According to Hayslip, “Estonia has great locations, fantastic crew, and citizens, and the service and accommodation are first rate”.
Allfilm said the Estonian authorities also had a supportive approach to film productions.
New projects
The film company currently has a few international projects in pre-production stage that are scheduled to start shooting early this summer. In the past the company has serviced many features, including “Tenet”, “King of Devil’s Island”, “A Man and a Woman”, and several television series such as South Korean “A Piece of Your Mind” and “The Days the Flowers Bloom” for Swedish TV.
Allfilm was established in 1995 is a production company located in Tallinn. The company has produced, co-produced and serviced more than 100 international film and television productions. Its notable co-productions include Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated “Tangerines” and “The Fencer”.
Cover: The shots of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” that were filmed in Tallinn’s Laagna Road. Image by “Tenet” Facebook page.
