Smells like Digital Spirit
With the blossoming spring and in the spirit of new life, we’d like to shine the spotlight on our partner in Romania, Digital Spirit. We had the pleasure to speak with Ovi Morariu, one of five producers under Executive Producer and Founder, Andrei Loghin at Digital Spirit. Ovi walked us through the reasons to film in Romania and the high level of professionalism that exists in the film industry there.
There are many things that make Romania stand out as a film destination- one of them is its stunning landscapes and rich cultural heritage. Romania has four distinct seasons, is located in Eastern Europe, and has a slightly warmer climate than central Europe. It is a relatively large country with an abundance of natural diversity within its borders. From rolling hills, rocky mountains, diverse forests, and sandy beaches, to rivers and deltas, beautiful meadows and farms, draconian castles, medieval villages, century-old farmhouses, and modern cities- it has almost everything within a few hour's drive from its capital city, Bucharest.
Digital Spirit has been a service production company since 2010 working mainly on international productions ranging from commercials, music videos, TV shows and is now learning the “nuts and bolts” of feature films (mainly the financial aspects). They have a solid local crew of freelancers, known as the “A-List”, whom they regularly employ to work on their projects because of their wealth of international experience. They all speak fluent English and have worked on shoots abroad in addition to Hollywood movies filmed in Romania, so they are familiar with cross-cultural interplays and what clients need and expect. Due to the diverse expertise of their crews, they tend to work as a creative family unit. If one part of the production is stuck on something, another part will often jump in and offer a solution from a different perspective. Ovi attributes this aspect of the team to part of the Romanian culture, which is friendly, helpful, and highly creative.
Over the past several years, Romanian feature film productions feature films have been awarded several Golden and Silver Bears at the Berlinale and a Grand Prix at Cannes. This is a reflection on the creativity of the Romanians and the state-of-the-art film resources and professionals in the country. Bucharest has a solid production infrastructure which is on par with other European countries. There are two major studios where interiors are built and filmed and which host an array of backlots. They have around 20,000 square meters of both stages and soundproof stages.
Their backlots offer “London Street” which could be associated with midtown America or the beginning of twentieth-century London. They have a medieval village, a Western village, a midtown America modern, an eighteenth-century Boston and a nineteenth- century European town. There are literally a world of possibilities. Tim Burton’s series “Wednesday” was filmed in the American modern backlot and the castle scenes of Nevermore Academy were also filmed in Romania. Bucharest is also considered a “doubling city” as it replaced Berlin, Rome, Paris or even Moscow in several productions.
Digital Spirit is also looking ahead to the future of film, like so many production companies are, and have started using Virtual Production in their productions. There is a major studio in Bucharest that boasts a full VP studio. The studio is operated by a team of highly skilled and professional locals. So far, all of the content has been brought from abroad and filmed there.
As a production service company, Digital Spirit has serviced car commercials that filmed the exterior abroad and used the VP studio for the dialogue and the interior. They are fully equipped to handle film productions of all sizes, and now, with the VP studio, they can offer even more. They can film table top shots/liquids or get dynamic shots for car commercials, using the motion control system, BoltX, Bolt or Junior. Romania enjoys having some of the very best technicians and operators as a result of their crews having worked all over Europe. This adds great value when Digital Spirit bids for a project.
Romania is one of the European countries whose government offers a 30% tax rebate for foreign feature films, series or documentary film productions. Ovi reckons they are 10% cheaper to shoot in than their Baltic neighbors and around 20-25% less expensive than the Czech Republic and Hungary. This is desirable for countries like Germany and the UK, which have higher in-country costs, and due to this, most of the productions filmed in Romania are German. Before Brexit, UK companies often filmed in Romania, but that has since declined. Ovi would encourage clients who are looking at filming in Bulgaria and Hungary to see what Romania has to offer. The level of professionalism is identical to that in Western Europe and the US. One of the advantages of shooting in Romania is that the production infrastructure and technological advancements cater to high-profile commercial shoots. They have a rental house which is a subsidiary of an Austrian-based camera and grip rental. If there isn’t enough gear in Bucharest or the market is very busy, they can just reach out to Vienna or elsewhere and get the gear in a day. They have all sizes of Technocranes and a full-size U-crane.
Digital Spirit is also committed to reducing its carbon footprint and having sustainable film sets. Ovi believes it is imperative to do both little and big things- because everything counts. On set they do what they can by having only local food, going electric when possible, not using single-use plastics, etc. They are a part of Ad Green and Green the Bid and are creating awareness around the importance of sustainability in the film world.
Ovi recalled a fun story about having a German production designer with them over Orthodox Easter one year. They had not yet wrapped up the project and needed to take 4 days off for Easter because it is a huge holiday in Romania. They still had the PD with them and he was super curious and wanted to stay in Romania and experience the culture rather than flying back to Berlin for 4 days. They put him up in a beautiful Air Bnb castle in Transylvania where there were many touristy things to do (King Charles also has a home here). The PD went to church, took a pottery class, went horseback riding, and returned to the set with a profound love and appreciation for the Romanian culture. He still says that it was the absolute best project he’s had and that the Romanian hospitality won him over.
Romania is a land where time has stopped (there are still horses and carriages in the northeast of the country) and equally one of unparalleled technical advantages when it comes to film. It’s a country that has a rich history, unspoiled nature, and offers a multitude of opportunities. Digital Spirit is committed to serving high-quality film productions and giving everyone a taste of Romania’s magnificent culture.
Learn more about Digital Spirit