Located on the edge of Europe between Scandinavia, Central Europe and Russia, Latvia offers a wide variety of unexploited and easily obtainable filming locations. Infrastructure (airlines, buses, trains) are particularly good and most places are accessible quickly by car or public transport. This makes filming in Latvia relatively easy for international filmmakers & photographers.

Our Latvia film fixer can service complete production cycles directly or in co-operation with local companies and agencies.

Filming in Latvia comes with a 20% film production tax incentive for international and non-Latvian films. The minimum spend in the country is 50% of the total production cost, but no less than €140,000.

Filming Permits in Latvia

Filming in Latvia that involves disturbing the peace of the locals or takes more than 5 days will generally require a permit.

The filming permits mostly take about a week or two to process for our Latvian film fixers. This depends on the location of production and the amount of required days. Some places of registration are quicker than others, while most of them are generally supportive towards filmmakers and photographers.

You can obtain permits to film from several locations like THE NATIONAL FILM CENTER. Producers generally need to submit info such as number of crew members, filming dates and production type.

Filming in Latvia is free in most places. However, there are times when a location fee is required.

Foreign Journalists

Latvia is part of the European Union, which means journalists from EU countries get free entrance. Production crew bringing in press equipment into Latvia from non-EU countries will have to apply for temporary admission. This includes press, photography and broadcasting equipment.

In terms of the main filming process, getting access either as a journalist or part of a news piece is relatively easy. Institutions are generally open to foreign media filming in Latvia.

Tax Incentive

Filming in Latvia boasts a tax incentive of up to 20%, which is available for fictional films, TV films, documentaries and animations. Its eligibility requires to have incurred at least 50% of the production cost in Latvia and it has to be no less than €140,000.