Estonia is full of surprising and undiscovered places. To start with, the country has magnificent natural locations, different types of forests and wild seaside beaches. In addition, capital city Tallin has a lot of remarkable historic architecture as well as vibrant contemporary buildings. Tallinn’s unique characteristics makes it a breathtaking location for filming in Estonia.
Filming in Estonia is relatively easy for international filmmakers & photographers. This is because of the conducive environment the authorities support.
Estonians are famous for their great work ethic and are proficient in several languages. The most widely spoken languages in Estonia are English, Russian, & German. This eases doing business with the locals.
Filming in Estonia is supported by a rather generous tax incentive. This is applicable to feature movies, documentaries, animation films, high-end TV-dramas (including post-production)
Estonia Filming Permits
When they are needed, filming permits mostly take about a week or two to process for our fixers. This depends on the location of production and amount of days required. Some places of registration like Tallinn are quicker than others, while institutions generally support filmmakers and photographers.
Filming in Estonia that involves some sort of disturbance of the locals will generally require a permit.
Access for Foreign Journalists
Journalists bringing press equipment into Estonia from non-EU countries will have to apply for a pass in form of a temporary admission. This includes press, photography and broadcasting equipment.
Journalists from European Union countries can freely enter Estonia with their equipment without a need for permits.
In terms of the actual filming process, getting access either as a part of a crew or as a journalist is relatively easy. Institutions tend to be open to foreign journalists and our Estonian fixers are happy to assist you with the accession process into the country when needed.
Tax Incentive
Filming in Estonia links to a tax incentive of up to 30% which is available for fiction films, TV films, documentaries and animations. Its eligibility requires for you to have incurred at least 60% of production cost in Estonia and it has to be no less than €200,000 for documentaries and TV-dramas. The scheme is also open for feature films with a budget of at least €1million and feature animations with a minimum budget of €2million.