THE COUNTRY CONTINUES TO DRAW IN MAJOR PROJECTS, LIKE DUNE PART 2 AND POOR THINGS, THANKS TO ITS 30% CASH REBATE, PERIOD ARCHITECTURE AND GROWING STUDIO BASE. | Hungary is one of the most popular European filming hubs for good reason. Producers have spoken highly of its great locations, including castles, forests, villages and cities that can double for other parts of Europe, as well as the expanding, experienced crew base and growing number of high-quality studios to choose from. “We have seven studio complexes in the centre of Budapest alone, so you can access these spaces with ease,” says Hungary’s film commissioner Csaba Kael. Stand-out facilities include Korda Studios which offers six soundstages and 10 hectares of pre-existing backlot sets – New York, renaissance and medieval. Plus, the National Film Institute studios in Fót, which are undergoing a massive expansion with four new 27,000 sq ft soundstages being built on 10,000 sqm increasing total studio capacity to 107,600 sq ft. The complex already has three soundstages, the largest of which is 19,400 sq ft. It also has medieval town and Second World War barracks backlots. Another popular facility is Origo Studios with nine soundstages and a greenbox stage, which has recently hosted both Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things and Warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Two, having previously also hosted the first part of the sci-fi series. The production team for Dune: Part Two created 40% more sets than the first film, including constructing Harkonnen’s black and white homeland of Giedi Prime. They took over six stages for more than 30 weeks, and utilised the 301,000 sq ft backlot space. “During prep, we did a couple of walkthroughs inside the studio perimeter with DOP Greg Frasier, production designer, Patrice Vermette, and the producers to find the perfect location for some desert scenes [because we had to put a lot of sand in the stage],” explains Origo’s head of studio and rentals Tamás Wisinger. “Another important factor was the angle of the sun. Greg wanted to use natural light instead of a massive amount of lighting equipment, so we used the backlot.” The film’s supervising location manager Duncan Broadfoot and his team were also able to find otherworldly locations in alternative sites around Budapest, including at the Varga Márton Museum and the Labour Movement Mausoleum in the Kerepesi cemetery. Both locations formed part of the Emperor’s world as the Imperial Gardens and Sardaukar Tabernacle respectively. “It was important that the locations reflected the design and architecture of the Imperial world,” says Broadfoot. “The challenge was finding locations that complemented the beautiful design that already existed. These fitted the bill and we managed to shoot both on the same day.” There are plenty of other productions that have chosen to shoot in the capital (and elsewhere around the country) recently, including Death of a Unicorn, starring Paul Rudd, and Modi, directed by Johnny Depp and starring Al Pacino, which shot near Károlyi Garden, for which the streets were decorated to look like Paris in 1910. The as yet untitled Brad Pitt-led F1 movie directed by Joseph Kosinski also filmed at the Hungarian Grand Prix. A full garage and pit wall were built, as well as a hospitality unit, which served as the base for the production crew. “We have a special DNA when it comes to filmmaking thanks to our knowledge and over 100 years of filming experience which is why so many productions choose to keep shooting here,” concludes Kael. Main Image: Poor Things © Disney. |
“THE PRODUCTION TEAM FOR DUNE: PART TWO CREATED 40% MORE SETS THAN THE FIRST FILM, INCLUDING CONSTRUCTING HARKONNEN’S BLACK AND WHITE HOMELAND OF GIEDI PRIME.” |
