The National Film Institute (NFI) welcomes the Government’s decision to develop the Fót studio as part of the Economic Protection Action Plan. With this, the largest fully state-funded studio development of all time can be realized in Hungary, thanks to which the capacity of the Fót studio will increase almost fivefold. The aim of the development is to satisfy the growing studio demand of domestically produced film productions in the future.
During the expansion of the studio complex, a total of 4 new film studios will be built, which will increase the current 2 600 m2 studio capacity by an additional 9 600 m2, therefore a total of 12 200 m2 will be available for productions. An important quality feature of the development is that 2-2 of the 4 new studios can be connected, so 4 800 m2 is available in one unit.
Hungarian film industry brings significant benefits to the country. Direct film production expenditures have exceeded HUF 100 billion (336M USD) every year since 2017. In Hungary, the contribution of the film industry to GDP is outstandingly high at the European level, the HUF 1,000 tax refund granted to all Hungarian film productions generates HUF 1,248 in tax revenue, increases GDP and creates jobs by HUF 3,240.
The Hungarian government has been keen on supporting foreign Service Productions and Co-Productions in Hungary. The Tax Incentive granted is one of the strongest in Europe having been raised from 25% to 30% in 2018. The Tax Incentive also allows non-Hungarian costs to receive the rebate, thus bringing the actual rebate in relation to Hungarian spend over 30%.
The NFI is convinced that the Hungarian film industry can only maintain its leading position and competitiveness on an international level if they focus on the long-term development of the Hungarian motion picture production in this period as well. The development of the Fót studio is of paramount importance from the national economy’s point of view.
With the investment, Mafilm will become a competitor to other large studio facilities such as Origo Studios and Korda Studios. Mafilm is 10 minutes from Budapest’s largest studio complex Origo Studios and one hour from Korda Studios in Etyek.
With its increased capacity Mafilm enters with 6 soundstages, Stern Studios in Pomáz with 3 soundstages and one small stage, Astra Studios in Mogyoród with 3 soundstages, Origo Studios in Budapest with 8 large soundstages, 2 smaller TV sound stages, and a green screen stage. In addition, post production facilities are all within 30 minutes of each other and provide a strong infrastructure for any type of production.
