Working Conditions in Hungary
Permits
- Hungary is part of the EU. No special working permits for EU citizens are required.
- shooting / location permits have to be asked from the local city hall based on the updated film law permits have to be asked from a local government office which will arrange the permit in agreement (or disagreement) with local city halls; the office has 5 working days to evaluate the application and give (or overrule) the permit; there is a possibility for extra-fast permits within 3 days as well for extra fee;
- you do not need a location permit if your camera is on a tripod or handheld for less then 30 min (in a same place. In this case you cannot put anything else on the street either)
- drone: permit 30 days
Working Hours
- 72 hours a week / 6 days a week / 12 hours a day (11 hours + 1 hour lunch)
- working hours are hours spent on set. If you shoot out of Budapest (travel back and forth) the working hours starts from the Budapest sign (but there are some special deals like studios out of Budapest with working hours starting on the set)
- one-hour lunch break is a standard, lunch is held after 6 hours of work (meal penalty in case not held after 6 hours of work)
- for continuous days you can work 10 hours – meal served at the end of shoot
- running lunch – meal during shoot in boxes
- you can mix normal lunch time and continuous days during production as your schedule requires
- a minimum of 11 hours rest has to be provided between two consecutive working days. If it is less than 11hrs, you need to pay the difference as turnaround fee for the crew per hour,
- in Hungary Sunday is the normal day off. However it is possible to work on Sunday and give another day off, on the condition that no more than 6 working days are scheduled in a row (if you make this special deal with the crew)
- overtime is any hour over the 12 hours daily limit
Rates
See the current rates for 2023 [PDF]
- currency in Hungary is Hungarian Forint (HUF). 1 Euro is 380 HUF
- there are no unions, and no fixed rates, but the different departments are usually discuss their conditions, prices etc. from time to time, but deals are to be made on a project-by-project basis;
Overtime
- overtimes are generally 7.500 HUF per hour. Some departments calculate it gradually: 1st hour 7.500 HUF, 2nd hour 7.500, 3rd hour 10.000 HUF.
- there is no additional charge for working during night
- Turnaround day is 35 hours(24+11)
- when working on Sunday (7th shooting day in a row) OR on national holidays, daily, hourly and overtime fees are x2 related to the regular ones. Deals need to be made on a project-by project basis.
- kids supposed to work according to their age: 0-3 years 4 hours including travel, 4-6 years 6 hours, 7-18 years 8 hours
Allowances
- in general you do not have to worry about transport if you shoot in Budapest (or in a well approachable location) except for special crew members like director, actor
- if you shoot at countryside you have to pay for the petrol and for the toll
- a minimum of one full meal, a sandwich, snacks coffee/tea and water is to be provided to everyone on set during a working day
- it is custom to pay for hotel/apartment for crew members and actors if they shoot away from home.
- a 25 € per diem is to be paid for every working day what you spend out of Budapest if you do not give meal 3 times a day
- the new system requires / demand Health and Safety regulation
Studios and backlots in Budapest
All stage complexes are either in Budapest or in the periphery of the capital city. More than 30 sound stages with a size of 350sqm to 6000sqm, outdoor and indoor water tanks, backlot sets like modern New York, Renaissance, Medieval, American suburb street, Western village…etc. Of course, along with production accommodations, warehouses and workshop areas and with hectares of backlot, suitable for set construction.
Some of the studios in detail:
Korda Studios
- located 30 km (18 miles) west of Budapest.
- 6 state of the art sound stages on 15 000 sqm
- One of the biggest soundstages in the world: 6 000 sqm and net buildable height of 20m
- More than 2 800 sqm of production accommodations
- Nearly 7 000 sqm of warehouse and workshop areas
- 15 hectares (37 acres) of empty backlot space suitable for set construction
- 10 hectares of backlot sets: New York, Renaissance and Medieval
Origo Studios
- located in Budapest
- 10 stages (8 soundstages, 2 VFX/multimedia stages) totaling 18,000 sqm
- 4 hectares (10 acres) of backlot
- Offices and warehouses for storage of props, costumes and equipment
NFI Studios
- located 7 km from Budapest
- 4 sound stages on from 385sqm to 1620sqm
- 4 new sound stages under construction from 2313 sqm to 4945 sqm (connected)
- Europe’s largest outdoor water tank (47m x 39m at a depth of 2m with an inner tank 20m x 15m at a depth of 5,5m)
- Medieval backlot with 15000 sqm
- American suburb street with 2500 sqm
- Western village with 2500 sqm
- 2 new studios are scheduled to be completed by the beginning of 2024
Astra Studios
- located 20km from downtown Budapest
- 6 sound stages from 504sqm to 2328 sqm
- Budapest’s largest indoor water tank (171 sqm, 19 m x 9 m / 63 ft x 29 ft depth: 6 m / 20 ft)