Filming Abroad during COVID-19 Pandemic
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At a time when travel restrictions, social distancing, and hygiene precautions reshape our industry, PSN is doubling up its efforts to remain your one-stop shop for trusted shoot support worldwide. Borders are opening up gradually to permit the traveling in of directors, producers, stakeholders, and talent to select film hubs. International shoots are underway worldwide thanks to remote film production with our production service Partners in 50 territories.
Click to read about approaches to remote film production our PSN Partners have executed before and during the pandemic.
Click to consult budgetary considerations when preparing a production brief and bid to film abroad during the pandemic.
Click to review safety measures PSN Partners are taking to uphold client, talent, and crew confidence in live action filming abroad.
Click / scroll to view and up-to-date list of major film hubs where cameras are rolling and within what parameters.
Don't hesitate to ask us for further details.
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Where cameras are rolling now - updated November 30, 2020 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Territory | Live Action Filming from | Covid-19 Experience | Crew/cast pax limit | Studio shoot | Location shoot | Remote streaming |
Domestic Travel | Foreign inbound travel | Contact |
| Argentina |
Now |
Bid & Prep | 20 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
No | No | Mauro argentina@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Australia |
Now |
Domino's / |
Varies | Yes | Yes | Domino's / Queensland Toursim |
Partial | Closed | Andrew australia@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Austria | Now | Bid & Prep | 100 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open only to EU and UK. Covid-19 neg. req. of ES, RS,PT, RO, HR + Paris and Prague. Closed to others. |
Ivan austria@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Brazil | Now | Visa UK / Pearson / Corona beer film |
Varies | Yes | Possible | Corona beer | Partial | Open with Ancine permit. 5 working days to process. Covid-19 neg. recommended. |
Daniel brazil@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Bulgaria | Now | TVCs for 2 Heineken brands | None | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | No restrictions for people coming from EU-Schengen countries, UK, NI, AU, CA, NZ. PCR-neg. w/i 72 hours before arrival req. of others. No quarantine. |
Christopher bulgaria@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Now | TVCs for car, food, homecare, and pharma products. Episodic series. |
50 | Yes | Yes | 4 US projects w/ director on set and remote stream to agency/client. 2 US projects w/ remote stream to director/agency/ client. |
Open | Yes for US director & producer with 14-days quarantine at arrival in Canada. Restrictions vary for other countries. |
Mathieu canada@productionservicenetwork.com |
|
| Now | Bid & Prep | 50 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open |
Open. |
Ana Luz chile@productionservicenetwork.com |
|
| China | Now |
Canada Goose TVC / |
None | Yes | Yes | Canada Goose / Oppo Reno 4 | Partial | Closed | Tiger china@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Colombia | Now | Corona beer film / Banco Popular / Alpina / ETB |
50 | Yes | Possible | Corona beer / ETB streamed to agency & client |
By land only. No flights. |
Partial | Juan Pablo colombia@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Costa Rica | Now | Bid & Prep | 50 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Partial | Luis V. costarica@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Croatia | Now | Bid & Prep | 40 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open | Ivan P. croatia@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Cuba | Now | Bid & Prep |
20 on |
Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open. PCR testing done on arrival. |
Luis L. cuba@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Czech Republic | Now | Bid & Prep | 300 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open to Covid-19 negative |
Petr czechrepublic@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Denmark | Now | Audi TVC | Varies | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Partial | Open to Covid-19 negative |
Mikkel denmark@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Egypt | Now | Cono Snacks / Rusky |
None | Yes | Yes | Cono Snacks stream for EU client |
Open | Open | Amin egypt@productionservicenetwork.com |
| France | Now | Bid & Prep | 50 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open to EU and JP, KR, AU, NZ, TH, CA, DZ, GE, ME, MA, RW, RS, TN, and UY. China possible if reciprocal. Closed to red zone countries like US, Brazil, Russia. |
Nico france@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Germany | Now | Bid & Prep | None | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open |
Open to EU. |
Helmut germany@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Greece | Now | TVC for BT Sport / UNICEF |
Varies | Yes | Possible | Remote stream to director, producer, agency, and client. |
Open | Open. Click here for details. |
Andreas greece@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Hungary | Now | Bid & Prep | None | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open to business visa holders. Persons with symptoms may face 10-day quarantine upon entry and require double Covid-19 neg. results. |
Zoltan hungary@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Iceland | Now | HP TVC / drama series |
200 | Yes | Yes | HP TVC | Open | Open to Covid-19 negative + tracing app. |
Beggi iceland@productionservicenetwork.com |
| India | Now | Durex TVC 3 x TVC: Unilever and Marico homeproducts, ITC food product. Snapchat. |
None | Yes | Possible | Snapchat streamed to director / producer & agency / client. TVC streamed to agency / client. | Open | Closed | Roopak india@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Ireland | Now | TVC for global alcohol brand. Feature film. |
Varies | Yes | Yes | Live stream to agency and client. Director on set |
Open | Open to MT, FI, NO, IT, HU, EE, LV, LT, CY, SK, GR, GL, GI, MC, SM. 14-day quarantine for others |
Dara ireland@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Israel | Now | Industrial |
20 outdoors, |
Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Restricted | Closed | Meirav israel@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Italy | Now |
Film & stills |
Varies | Yes | Possible | EU stream for household product / US stream for Nike |
Open |
Open with |
Luca italy@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Jordan |
Now |
Feature film |
None |
Yes | Yes | TBD | Open | Open to AT, CA, CN, CY, DK, EE, GE, DE, GL, IS, IE, IT, LV, LT, MY, MT, NZ, NO, CH, TW, TH, MC with double Covid-19 negative results. | Johnny jordan@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Lithuania |
Now |
Bid & Prep |
Unlimited crew. |
Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open to AT, BE, BG, HR, CY, CZ, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, IS, IT, LV, LI, LU, MT, NL, NO, PL, RO, SK, SI, CH, UK. Others 14-day quarantine |
Ramojus lithuania@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Malaysia |
Now |
Bid & Prep | 20 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Closed | Pete malaysia@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Mexico |
Now |
Random House | Varies | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open by air | Ari mexico@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Netherlands | Now | Bid & Prep | 30 | Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Closed | Maarten netherlands@productionservicenetwork.com |
| New Zealand | Now | Bid & Prep | None | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Closed, but permitting filmmaker exceptions with 14-day quarantine |
Iris newzealand@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Norway | Now | Oreo | 50 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open to Scandinavia. Others 10-day quarantine |
Eirik norway@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Peru | Now | Bid & Prep | None | Yes | No | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Closed | Alejandro peru@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Philippines | Now in provinces with low virus spread. |
Bid & Prep | 50 | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Open | Open only to Philippine resident or w/ business/work visa issued before pandemic. Exceptions possible for large-scale, weeks-long productions allowing 30+ days for gov't approval |
Stefano philippines@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Poland | Now | TVCs for pharma, bank, and Swisscom. |
None | Yes | Yes | Pharma shoot for Euro client | Closed | Open to EU. | Julia poland@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Portugal | Now | Bid & prep | None | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested | Partial |
Open to EU/ |
Michael portugal@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Romania | Now |
Xiaomi / Penny / Emag / |
None | Yes | Yes |
Xiaomi / Penny / |
Open |
Open to |
Giuliano romania@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Serbia | Now |
Italian cheese |
None | Yes | Yes | Italian cheese product TVC |
Open | Open | Georgiana serbia@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Singapore | Now | Lego film | 30 | Yes | Yes | Lego | Open | Closed | Pete malaysia@productionservicenetwork.com |
| South Africa | Now | TVCs for Coca-Cola / Unilever product / food product |
75 | Yes | Possible | Stream to UK director and Chicago agency for Unilever. Stream to SE director and NL agency for int'l beverage. Stream to UK director and US agency for food product. |
Open | Open | Jon southafrica@productionservicenetwork.com |
| South Korea | Now | None | Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Open | 14-day quarantine |
Kimi southkorea@productionservicenetwork.com |
|
| Spain | Now | Bayer product TVC. |
Industry recommendation of 25. Decided by local production service based on nature of shoot. |
Yes | Yes | Stream to agency & client. |
Open. |
Open to EU / |
Michael spain@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Sweden | Now | Bid & Prep | 50 | Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Partial | Partial | Joakim sweden@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Thailand | Now | Diesel / Doco shoot |
50 | Yes | Possible | The 5th Wave for Columbia Pictures |
Partial | Open to KR, CN, JP, SG, HK. Double COVID-19 negative test and tracking app required of others. Addl. 14-day quarantine + special permit for pandemic red zones. |
Fred thailand@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Turkey | Now | Unilever TVC / pharma TVC / Belgium series |
None | Yes | Yes | Remote stream to agency & client |
Open | Open | Chad turkey@productionservicenetwork.com |
| UAE | Now | LG / EXPO / Emarate |
None | Yes | Yes | Stream to director for EXPO film |
Open | Open to Covid-19 negative |
Shane uae@productionservicenetwork.com |
| UK | Now |
Motion & stills |
Varies | Yes | Possible | McDonald's / Puig / XTB |
Englad operates a tier system for the general public. Productions can go ahead whether in a tier 1, 2, or 3 zone. Accommodations are open |
APA: directors, dops, and artists entering the UK for a production are exempt from isolation. Can attend production upon arrival. Production company letter confirming the project & their details required. Whilst in the UK, they're required to remain in their production bubble so productions can go ahead. |
Carly uk@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Ukraine | Now | Kaspi Bank | 50 | Yes | Yes | Stream to agency / client in KZ |
Open | Open | Dmitry ukraine@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Uruguay | Now | Toyota stills | 23 | Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Partial | Partial | Andres uruguay@productionservicenetwork.com |
| USA East & West | Now | Porsche TVC | Varies | Yes | Possible | Tech ready & tested |
Partial | Open to Japan | Eric usa-eastwest@productionservicenetwork.com |
| USA Florida | Now |
TVCs for gaming, banking, and retail. |
Varies | Yes | Possible | Director on set w/ stream to agency & client. |
Open | Partial | Michael S. usa-florida@productionservicenetwork.com |
| USA Hawaii | Now | Bid & Prep | Varies | Yes | Yes | Tech ready & tested |
Partial | Partial | Ric usa-hawaii@productionservicenetwork.com |
| Vietnam | Now | TVCs for Unilever / P&G / Mead Johnson / Airis |
None | Yes | Yes | Stream to P&G director, agency, and client in SG. Stream to Unilever director in TH, agency in SG, clients in IN. Stream to director in Hungary, clients & agency in Philippines. |
Open | Closed | Chi-Minh vietnam@productionservicenetwork.com |
PSN Partners update this table regularly. Reach out to discuss with Production Liaisons in your time zone or directly to our production service Partners for more details on their latest. We’re here to provide you with the ground truth from the production trenches in 50 major film hubs worldwide. And execute your project safely in the most suitable locations.
Industry organizations on COVID-19 measures, impact, and relief
- Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP)
- Advertising Producers Association (APA)
- Producers Guild of America (PGA)
- Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television of UK (PACT)
- The Production Guild
- Location Managers Guild International (LMGI)
- Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI)
- Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA)
Industry articles and webinars cover Coronavirus
- Produzen - Foreign Production Services: Shooting Around the Global Pandemic
- Little Black Book - Industry Upended: How Creative Is Adapting to Production
- PACT - Filming Abroad During the Covid-19 Pandemic
- Screen Daily - Production experts talk new Covid-19 realities, pushing shoots to 2021
- Shots - The advertising industry's clash with coronavirus
- Shots - Five Questions from Quarantine - Michael Moffett
- Little Black Book - The Show Must Go On: Don’t Let Coronavirus Put the Brakes On
- The Location Guide - Coronavirus pandemic affects productions
- KFTV - Production Service Network MD’s work tips during COVID-19
- PSN Blog - Coronavirus Boost to Remote Film Production