Written by Tom Deehan on Sep 23, 2016. Posted in General Interest

Film Commission Poland hosts fam trip for American Location Managers and The Location Guide

Film Commission Poland has hosted a familiarisation trip to promote a variety of key locations to an international audience. The attendees of the fam trip were Lori Balton, Becky Brake, Robin Citrin, Todd Christensen, Dow Griffith, John Hutchinson and The Location Guide’s Web Editor, Tom Deehan.

The collective production credits of the Location Managers in attendance include Star Trek: Into Darkness, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Sicario.

Funding for the trip was provided by the Polish Film Institute with assistance from Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission, Łódź Film Commission, Wroclaw Film Commission and Krakow Film Commission.

Tomasz Dąbrowski, Head of Film Commission Poland explains: “we were aiming at inviting to Poland professionals who are collaborating with big and medium-sized film studios in the USA, but who are also involved in productions that can be adapted to Polish location and production conditions.”

Lori Balton, the former LMGI president and AMPAS member adds: “from the depths of the underground river in Lodz and the Wieliczka Salt Mines, to soaring above forests, farmland, castles and forts - Poland offers an amazingly diverse selection of unique locations. Add the acres of period industrial locations, factories repurposed as cutting edge hotels, streets with nineteenth-century apartment buildings. The sense of history and wonder around every corner was daunting.”

Poland’s presence on the locations market catapulted last year with the release of Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, which doubled areas of Wroclaw for Berlin. Similar success is expected with the release of True Crimes starring Jim Carrey, an international co-production shot in Krakow.

Poland is currently without a film incentive programme but there are 10 regional film funds available to domestic and co-production entities. The Polish Film Institute can also invest in the development of international co-productions, as long as the domestic contribution to the project amounts to no less than 20%.

All of the Polish film commissions mentioned in this article and more will be attending FOCUS – the meeting place for international production in December.

Tom Deehan attended the familiarisation trip as a guest of Film Commission Poland. A detailed feature about the locations shown on the trip will be published on our website.