PRODUCTION AND
SERVICE FOR FILMS & TV

+371 67 888 502
info@balticfilms.com

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Audi Q5 from Latvia


What started as a small “few driving shots in the rain” kind of job turned into a full-on SFX battle scene.

Once the right and controllable stretch of road outside the city of Riga was found there were few challenges left to face including steady rain SFX covering 350 m long road and enough lighting to support night-time shooting on high-speed Phantom camera mounted on a tracking vehicle. It took some planning and testing before we came to location with some heavy artillery:  6 cherry pickers, 2 fire trucks, 3 generators, 12 rain towers, tracking car, client Winnebago, security, 2 police cars,  truck with two brand new Audi Q5 and a crew of 60.

Apart from multiple filming permits that we secured we have also established contact with the all private house owners along the road as we needed to place some lighting in their front yards. While most were very kind, some others let their dogs free as it sometime happens in our line of work.  It was a long, cold and wet night with many peoples hard work put into the film. The result is a beautiful film highlighting many features of a smart new Audi.

Director:  Alan Bibby
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    Audi Q5 from Latvia

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    WALLANDER

    Crew screening of Wallander: The Dogs of Riga

ABOUT

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"I'D BE ABSOLUTELY THRILLED TO RETURN AND I'M SURE THAT MANY OTHER FILM CREWS WILL BE VISITING SOON. I SHALL CERTAINLY BE TELLING WHAT A FANTASTIC TIME WE HAD."

KENNETH BRANAGH

"THE FILM (WALLANDER 3: THE DOGS OF RIGA) IS LOOKING VERY GOOD AND WE ALL REALLY ENJOYED FILMING IN LATVIA. YOUR COMPANY DID A VERY GOOD JOB -
THANK YOU."

ANDY HARRIES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, LEFT BANK PICTURES

"I LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING SOMETHING TO WORK WITH YOU
ON AGAIN."

FRANCIS HOPKINSON, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DRAMA, ITV

"THE WHOLE PRODUCTION TEAM WERE VERY IMPRESSED WITH LATVIAN CREW AND HOW HARD EVERYONE WORKED TO ACHIEVE SO MUCH IN SUCH A SHORT SPACE OF TIME."

ZOE EDWARDS, PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE, LEFT BANK PICTURES

"Our experience of shooting with BPF was fantastic.
The team had studied the way that big production centers work and adopted best practices wherever possible."

Jeremy Barnes, Producer, Thomas Thomas Films, UK

"Latvia was an obvious choice from the start: experienced crew, proven service company and very economical. The production went incredibly smoothly. Highly rated!"

Lucy Gossage, Producer, Academy Films, UK

“I would say that (in Latvia) it is possible to create a certain visual universe like nowhere else in Europe. Shooting with BPF is one of the very best service productions I have shot with worldwide.”

Jonas Arnby, Director, Denmark

"The shoot was well prepared and the atmosphere on set was professional. We were looked after and nothing seemed too much trouble. I can thoroughly recommend working with BPF”

Nick Brimble, Actor, UK

"The shoot was one of the smoothest ever! Great crew, good locations. Nothing to complain about. Really!"

Guri Neby & Jarle Tangen, Einarfilm

COMPANY

Baltic Pine Films is a full spectrum production and service company with the UK, US, German and Scandinavian experience.

We develop our own projects. We facilitate wide range of foreign productions ranging from commercials and stills photography shoots to documentaries, TV dramas and feature films.

We connect local advertising agencies with foreign directors and post-production facilities.

We are located in the Latvian capital Riga. Company's MD is Sergei Serpuhov who has worked in production in the UK for 4 years and has been producing here in the Baltic for the last 9 years.

WHATEVER THE SCALE OF YOUR PRODUCTION IS WE CAN OFFER:

  • Budgeting and research
  • Location scouting and permits
  • Regional and international casting
  • Access to the best English-speaking crews and technicians in the region
  • Access to the most experiences set designers and construction teams
  • Modern and comfortable production office in the centre of Riga
  • Access to visual and sound post-production facilities
  • The best hotels at special rates
  • Guides & chaperones

BPF IS ABOUT QUALITY PRODUCTIONS, REASONABLE COSTS, TRUSTWORTHINESS, COMMITMENT AND PUTTING OUR CLIENTS INTERESTS FIRST.

INDUSTRY

ADVANTAGES

  • 40% cheaper than Prague
  • Flexible hours for crew & cast
  • Negotiable cast buy-outs
  • No extra charge for weekends, public holidays and night shoots
  • Politically stable, safe & non-unionized region

CREWS

The region has a good standard of English-speaking crews with multiple international productions behind their belts. 1st ADs, production designers, gaffers, camera departments, stunts, SFX are of international standards.

Crews are non-union and the costs are extremely competitive. No weekend, night or holiday premiums.

MOVING IMAGE POST-PRODUCTION

  • Editing
  • Keying, tracking, masking etc.
  • SFX 3D animation and 2D animation
  • Basic color correction
  • Output on any format
  • Film development and processing

SOUND POST-PRODUCTION

  • Mixing and encoding in all DOLBY formats
  • ADR recording
  • Foley
  • Digital sound editing
  • Sound effects libraries selection
  • Sound design
  • Music recording and mixing
  • Film dubbing
  • Location sound recording
  • Quality control screenings
  • Cinema and TV production sound restoration

SPECIAL

  • Wind tunnel
  • Underwater filming
  • Film-trained horses & other animals

EQUIPMENT

  • 35 mm and 16 mm Arricam, Arriflex, Aaton Film Cameras
  • Arri Alexa, Red Epic, Red Mx, Red Scarlet, Phantom High Speed, Weisscam High Speed Digital Cameras
  • Sony HD Digital and Video Cameras Digital Still Canon 5D, 7D
  • Wide range of lenses, incl. Hawk anamorphic
  • Wide range of lighting
  • Cranes, incl. Techno, dollies, gyro stabilizers, car rigs
  • Tracking vehicles & Low loaders
  • Helicams

CONSTRUCTION

  • Experienced large scale set design and construction teams
  • SFX set built

PROPS & COSTUMES

  • Thousands of items of ancient, period and fantasy props and costumes are available for hire in our studio stores. More contemporary items are normally hired from the stores in the capital.
  • Costume design and tailoring.

PROSTHETICS & WIGS

  • Cuts, wounds, blood, burns, deformations or any other effects can be created
  • There are several wig-making stores in our studios

SFX

  • Pneumatic and hydraulic effects: air ramps, catapults for cars
  • Mechanical effects: constructions to collapse, wiring, ratchets
  • Floor effects: rain, snow, wind, fog etc.
  • Pyrotechnical effects: explosions, fire, bullet hits etc.
  • Model effects design and construction, animatronics

WELL, LOOK NO FURTHER. RIGA HAS A LOT OF CHARACTER, WELL-DEVELOPED INDUSTRY AND THE COSTS ARE AMONG LOWEST IN EUROPE.

SHOOTING HERE IS JUST LIKE SHOOTING IN PRAGUE. ONLY RIGA IS A BIT SMALLER AND IT IS STILL BEING DISCOVERED BY THE INTERNATIONAL PRODUCERS LOOKING FOR NEW INTERESTING AND COST-EFFECTIVE PLACES TO SHOOT.

Locations

STUDIOS

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RIGA MOTION PICTURE STUDIO IS THE LARGEST
SOUND-PROOF FACILITY AMONG SEVERAL OTHERS.

It comes with modern production offices, construction workshops, green / blue screens,
water tank and wi-fi on all 3 stages.
Alternative warehouse space is also available for larger scale build.

There is a large 20th century back-lot with standing sets about 50 km out of Riga.
See photos in location data base.


  • RIGA MOTION PICTURE STUDIO

  • CINEVILLA STUDIO

  • NA STUDIO

  • VILNUS ARENA

REGION

FILMS

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YOU NEED A LOCAL PRODUCTION
COMPANY TO BE ABLE TO QUALIFY
FOR THE REBATE AND VAT RETURN

WHAT YOU CAN GET IS A REBATE OF UP TO 20% OF ALL YOUR QUALIFYING LOCAL SPEND AS WELL AS 21% VAT RETURN. IT TAKES ABOUT A MONTH TO GET THE VAT BACK FROM THE MOMENT WE REPORT TO THE STATE REVENUE SERVICE. THE PROCEDURE IS PRETTY STRAIGHT-FORWARD.

RIGA FILM FUND

Provides a rebate of up to 20% of all qualifying local spent during a foreign film production (feature, television and documentary films).
  • Window for application opens 4 times a year
  • No creative evaluation
  • Once the paperwork is submitted a reply normally comes within couple of weeks.
  • Once rebate is confirmed you would need to cash-flow it.
  • Once the final financial report is submitted at the end of production for evaluation and audit is carried out you should allow up to 1 month for the money to hit the bank account.
  • The reporting system is easy
  • Can be combined with Latvian State Support Fund. 

LATVIAN STATE SUPPORT FUND

  • A rebate of up to 20% to foreign productions shot in Latvia – feature films, animation films and documentaries.
If combined together the two
funds can provide a total
REBATE OF UP TO 30-40% 

in addition to ALREADY LOW PRODUCTION COSTS

CO-PRODUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL FUNDING

Latvia is an official member of several international institutions, which
allows qualifying for international co-production funding.

NATIONAL FILM FUND

NATIONAL FILM FUND is a state-financed organization giving support for Latvian and co-production films.

EURIMAGE

The Council of Europe fund EURIMAGE promotes the European film industry:
  •     Production
  •     Distribution
  •     Fostering Co-operation

Media

MEDIA European Commission Audiovisual Support Program:
  • Film project development
  • Film distribution
  • Film promotion and festivals

STATE CULTURE CAPITAL FOUNDATION

STATE CULTURE CAPITAL FOUNDATION grants support for culture projects including film productions

FILMS THAT COULD HAVE
BEEN MADE IN LATVIA

    • INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
    • Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    • TRANSSIBERIAN
    • A KNIGHTʼS TALE
    • LA VIE EN ROSE
    • PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
    • SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
    • THE DUCHESS
    • THE ILLUSIONIST
    • THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
    • ANTICHRIST
    • THE PIANIST
    • THE COUNTESS

COMMERCIALS

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OUR CLIENTS

    • LEFT BANK PICTURES
    • 3BM
    • ACADEMY
    • BLINK
    • STINK
    • EINAR FILM
    • OTTO
    • YELLOW BIRD
    • NETWORKMOVIE
    • RED BEE MEDIA
    • KUNDE & CO
    • MARKEN FILM
    • THOMAS THOMAS FILMS
    • SHED MEDIA
    • PARTIZAN
    • RSA FILMS
    • KNUCKLEHEAD
    • LEE FILMS
    • COBBLESTONE

Casting

Contacts

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Baltic Pine Films

  • 4 Maskavas Str.
    Riga, LV-1050
    Latvia

    Tel. +371 67 888 502
    Fax. +371 67 888 503
    Mob. +371 2672 5658

    info@balticfilms.com
    skype: Sergmaster

  • Sergei Serpuhov MD / Executive Producer

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