Filmmaking in Portugal: Control Your Creative, Control Your Costs
THE BIG QUESTION
A very famous director once remarked that he’d prefer to make four movies at a cost of $25,000,000 each than one movie that costs $100,000,000 to make. The logic being that making four modestly-budgeted movies gives you four opportunities to tell amazing stories. On the other hand, making one huge blockbuster gives you only one chance to tell a story.
What about productions that cost $2,500,000 or even $250,000 - Is there even a place for movies like that anymore? Of course. And they continue to be made by independent film companies, new directors, medium-sized production agencies and others. Are they getting harder and harder to make with all the increased costs that seem to be getting added on these days? Yes and no.
FILMS ARE BECOMING HARDER TO MAKE
Labor costs, healthcare costs, insurance costs, rental costs - all the costs connected to making a film - vary greatly depending on the location (city, region, country) where a film is shot. Some markets that have been a part of the film business for decades and decades are facing a squeeze of budgets, cost-of-living increases and general cost increases overall. For smaller production companies this is a huge problem. It’s far too easy to lose the original vision of your project when you’re forced to scrape together money to tell the story you want to tell. In other words, the creative suffers for the financial.
FILMS ARE BECOMING EASIER TO MAKE
New markets for production are opening, and markets that have been available for some time are becoming more attractive to filmmakers who are trying to find a way to create their dream project without having to spend way more than their budget can afford. While some filmmaking will always happen in the historically significant places like Los Angeles, more filmmaking is taking place in countries like Portugal, Ireland, the UK and other countries across the EU. These markets provide talented crew, major rental houses, studios, amazing locations, and lower costs. They represent a great opportunity for productions with smaller budgets.
THE BENEFITS OF FILMMAKING IN PORTUGAL
Portugal is worth more than a glance by film productions of all budget sizes, but can be even more attractive to small to medium sized production houses. Almost every cost - labor, locations, permitting and licensing, logistics, equipment rental - is significantly less than in areas like Los Angeles, the UK and Atlanta. These lower costs allow companies to travel here with their core teams and actors, hire professional support staff on the ground, find and secure locations, get accommodations and still make the film they want to make without too many of the compromises that can arise because of funding issues.
The lower costs associated with making films in Portugal also allows filmmakers to produce their film without relying on 5, 6, 7 or more production companies to fund it. This places more control in the hands of the filmmaker and allows for more creative freedom.
THIS PLACE HAS IT ALL - LOCATIONS
As a (relatively) small country, Portugal has locations that must be seen to be believed:
Looking for scenery like the Old West of America? Look no further than the Algarve region in the south.
Do you need a place to pass for the Serengeti of Africa? Look no further than the Alentejo region.
How about the Italian countryside? There are too many places to mention.
Beaches, coastlines and coastal villages? All along the western and southern edges of the country.
Lakes, rivers, castles, ancient monasteries, valleys, mountains that see snow in the winter, flower covered fields, vineyards and wineries, farms and quintas, modern structures and buildings, highways, country roads, pine forests, Eucalyptus forests, cobbled streets? It’s all here.
In our opinion, there is no way to easily show all the location possibilities that exist here. No amount of photos or videos we could ever add to our site can cover it all. But we can almost guarantee that if you need a specific type location, we can find it for you here.
TRANSPORTATION, EQUIPMENT AND CREWS
With a network of highways that reach all corners of the country, and railroads that seamlessly transport you from city to city and town to town, getting around Portugal is easy. And getting here is easy too. Two major airports - in Lisbon and Porto - support international flights to and from everywhere. Trucking and bus companies move products, equipment and people.
Major rental houses exist to support productions of all sizes. Name your camera, lights and gear and you will find it here.
You’ll also find the crew needed to operate cameras, build lighting setups, scout locations, manage projects, design sets and more.
OUR SUBMISSION STATEMENT
At Atmosphera Productions we believe it’s better to be able to focus more on the creative and less on the business side of filmmaking as much as possible. Filming your next project in Portugal, and partnering with us can help you do that. Our mission is to simplify the art of producing films, shorts, commercials and documentaries in Portugal and Spain. We do this by helping filmmakers understand the possibilities that exist here, and by helping them take advantage of those possibilities.
Contact us if you need information or assistance in making your project a reality and let’s build a partnership.