Working Conditions in Romania

Shooting in Romania

Romania is often chosen as a shooting destination because, on one hand, there are sound stages with various facilities and sizes (including the second largest in Europe), and on the other hand, there are extremely varied locations, urban and rural, modern and classic, displayed on all forms of relief, from sea to mountains, and the unique Danube Delta.

It is also worth mentioning the high level of professionalism of the film crews as well as the quality of the set construction, which stands out in terms of finishing, execution time and cost efficiency.

Permits

• Romania is part of the EU. No working permits requested.
• Shooting / Location permits have to be asked for by Romanian authorized production company.

Working Hours

• 60 hours a week / 5 days a week / 12 hours a day including 1 hour lunch break; in most of the cases in the past few years; however, there are productions which are going for
• 72 hours a week / 6 days a week / 12 hours a day including 1 hour lunch break;
• working hours are hours spent on set, from crew call to wrap; breakfast is scheduled 30 minute before crew call;
• a minimum of 10 hours rest has to be provided between two consecutive working days;
• Romania is a Christian orthodox country and 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.
• there are different methods for calculating overtime; mostly overtime is calculated twice the hourly rate, in respect to the 12 hours daily program;

Crew Rates

• Fees are not agreed or established on national level. The document provides an indication of the daily fees valid for 2023- subject to negotiation.

Overtime

• overtime fee is generally x 2 of hourly fee while hourly fee is 1/12 of the daily fee;
• there is no additional charge for working during night
• when working on Sunday or Public Holidays, daily, hourly and overtime fees are x 2 related to the regular ones.

Allowances

• the production company is to provide transport for the cast and crew to/from shooting location or, alternatively, cover the corresponding fuel cost;
• a minimum of one full lunch meal, a sandwich, snacks coffee/tea and water has to be provided to everyone on set during a working day
• a (minimum) 20 € perdiem has to be paid for every working day outside Bucharest, in Romania.
• a (minimum) 50 € perdiem has to be paid for every working day when shooting abroad.

Studio facilities

There are more then 20 studios, some with small surfaces but eventually equipped with limbos, up to medium, large and very large surfaces, two of them of over 3,500 square meters. The highest usable height, up to the catwalk, is 16.20 m but most of them are of around 12 m. Some have also a water tank under the floor.

Prices vary depending on the sizes and are negotiated based on the duration of the rental. The rental of an 1,300 square meters studio starts from 1,000 euro/ prep day and 1,800 euro/ shoot day, while one of 2,500 square meters is 1,700 euro for a prep day and 3,000 euro for a shoot day, calculated weekly x 4 for shooting, respectively x 6 for prep/wrap. The rates vary also from a provider to another. Anyway the guidance above is pretty accurate at the moment.

Cash rebate

• The Office for Film and Cultural Investments „will open a new call for projects for the year 2024, in a new formula that will ensure a more efficient allocation of funds, as well as the immediate attraction of international productions ready to start filming in Romania”;
• The cash rebate scheme is aiming for the reimbursement of 30% of the eligible expenses incurred for a film production on Romanian territory, for the following categories:
  • fees, salaries and other payments to physical persons, for their activity strictly related to the implementation of the eligible project, for which it represents taxable income in Romania according to Romanian fiscal legislation, bilateral fiscal conventions and international agreements in force;
  • any payments for goods/ services provided by legal persons, if the respective goods/ services are directly related to the implementation of the eligible project if: the legal person has the registered office in Romania, its tax residence in Romania and the goods and services are provided on Romanian territory, irrespective of their origin.
• the following categories shall not be considered eligible expenses:
  • any expenses made prior to the date of obtaining the “Financing Agreement”;
  • expenses for financing the project, other than those considered eligible;
  • bank guarantees related to performing the project eligible for fund raising;
  • hospitality expenses;
  • expenses resulting from the acquisition of assets which were purchased using another source of public aid;
  • any other expenses which are not relevant for the project;
  • bank fees, interests and other expenses corresponding to loans; fines, penalties, legal expenses;
  • expenses for the film studios infrastructure;
  • marketing expenses