20/03/2013 - Scheme aims to emulate success of Riga Film Fund

The first regional Estonian film fund was set up last week in the northern Estonian region of Virumaa to encourage international crews to come and shoot features, TV shows and other audio-visual content in the area. The fund has been set up by four municipalities in the Virumaa region partnered by the East Viru Enterprise Centre and the Estonian Digital Centre. The fund has been inspired by Latvia’s Riga Film Fund and its significant impact on the country, with every euro invested by the fund seeing nine euro being returned to the local economy. 

It is hoped that one or two large scale projects  - chiefly from European and Russian productions - will be brought to the area every year to take advantage of local diverse architecture (including a massive industrial landscape),  natural beauty and the means to offer transportation, accommodation and construction, while offering prices up to a third cheaper than Scandinavia .

The four municipalities will contribute 5,000 euro each for 2013 and it is hoped that they will be joined by other local municipalities, corporations and individuals. The fund will co-fund productions and, in return, the fund will ask to use the finished projects for marketing purposes.

Virumaa has already seen many films being shot there over the past few years including Rainer Sarnet’s Estonian hit The Idiot and the Norwegian movie King of Devil’s Island [+see also:
trailer
film profile].