The country always has enjoyed a strong filmmaking culture – and 20th Century Fox founder William Fox was born there – but it wasn’t as high on Hollywood’s list as such other eastern European locations as Prague or Bulgaria. But with Universal Pictures’ „Hellboy 2: The Golden Army,” directed by Guillermo del Toro, preparing for a June start, and „The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” an adaptation of John Boyne’s Holocaust novel, now shooting, Budapest is enjoying a new Hungarian revolution.
Budapest’s diverse architecture can double for Paris, London or even a medieval setting. It’s also where Steven Spielberg shot part of „Munich.” For „Pajamas,” producer David Heyman said the filmmakers „were able to find a concentration camp that was already in existence, and parts of Budapest serve as a good double for Berlin in the ‘40s, which was exactly what we needed.” Other positives singled out by Budapest supporters are rising prices in Prague and Hungary’s muscular 20% tax rebate on all film production dollars spent in the country.
„The tax break that Hungary offers has helped reduce the costs. … Prague offers no tax break and has become more expensive,” Heyman said. The city is seeing quite a bit of construction of state-of-the-art studio space, and Los Angeles-based Raleigh Studios plans to join the building boom. It is working on plans in conjunction with Origo Studios to open a facility that will join the ranks of its operations in Hollywood and Baton Rouge. „It makes sense for us geographically and just as a production hub,” Raleigh Studios president Michael Moore said. „They’ve got great crews there, great access to equipment there, it’s very central, and it’s got a great Western sensibility to it.” (tvguide.com)
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