Estonia
Estonia offers a competitive cash rebate of up to 30% on a minimum spend such of EUR1 million for feature films and television productions.
Estonia now offers the Viru Film Fund, which is a cash rebate programme available for any production with no minimum spending or artistic criteria obligations. It’s been designed to be as flexible as possible in order to further boost Estonia’s industry.
Capital city Tallinn is one of Estonia’s main international appeals with a blend of historic architecture dating back to the 13th Century. There’s a good variety of manor houses and medieval castles that often catch the eye of visiting Location Scouts, plus the distinctive Patarei Prison in Tallinn, which is now un-used and available as a filming location.
East of Tallinn and closer to the Russian border is the mining region of Virumaa where filmmakers can make use of the specialist industrial infrastructure and an oil shale mine that has been turned into a museum.
Estonia offers more than 700km of coastline and over a thousand islands, making beaches among the most popular filming locations.
With an overall population of just over 1.3 million – making it among the least populous in the European Union – Estonia does not have a large crew base of its own, but crew are routinely brought in from Latvia, Lithuania and across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki.
Climate
The climate of Estonia is temperate, with warm summer weather and extreme winters. Summer temperatures can reach 35C although 18C is the norm. Average winter temperatures are around -7C but can fall to -35C. Precipitation is limited to light summer rain showers and occasional winter snowfalls. Snow tends to lie on the ground and the countryside remains blanketed between December and March.
Average daily daylight
Average daily sunlight
Forum
- A Call for EU Documentary Makers for an International Co-production - Jan 17, 2014
- Theme park location - Oct 28, 2013
- Fixer / Prod Support - Morocco / Czech / Estonia - Aug 9, 2013
- Eastern European Locations Database - Feb 21, 2008
- Looking for Casting Agencies in Latvia, Russia and Estonia - Jun 16, 2006
