General information about filming permits in Russia.
Filming in Russia can have lots of paperwork. It is very important to get the required permits and permissions. Depending on the exact location, film crew size, and event, different authorities are involved in the permit-gathering procedure.
Locations may either be privately owned or public property. For privately owned locations, everything is quite straightforward: contact the owner and get the green light for filming. With locations that are owned by the state, there are many options. For filming inside museums, palaces, and mansions in Russia you need permits from the administration of each particular museum. Filming or any kind of TV production that involves hospitals, orphanages, police departments in Russia requires much more paperwork. Apart from the particular filming location administration, the legal requirement is to get the filming authorization from the ministry or committee that is responsible for each particular organization.
For filming inside a train, you need to have a media visa and a media accreditation from the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia. For filming inside any museum, you will need to apply for a filming permit. The estimated time for getting the film permit is anywhere from two to three weeks. Our fixers and production managers in different cities can do all the work needed to get these permits.
Exterior filming in Russia: legal requirements.
Exterior filming for crews bigger than 7-10 people may require notifying the police. Police support is a must-have when a filming requires traffic cuts or blocking pedestrian areas. Not informing the relevant authorities may end in a disruption to your filming. This is particularly important when you are filming in a location that is an iconic, religious, or a government building. Contact our fixers in Moscow or St. Petersburg to find out the exact permits needed.
Also, sometimes a permit is required from the owner of the property where the camera is physically placed.
The amount of notice that you need to give in regards to filming can vary based on the size of your crew. Allow 5-15 working days to process the required permits. Send our fixers a detailed description of the upcoming TV production. After that we will send you a list of legal requirements based on your choice of filming locations in Russia.
Permissions for filming in Moscow
As for the filming permits, Moscow is different from any other Russian city. There are lots of government-owned buildings. Thus, filming in the streets requires a special permit. Processing time takes five to seven days.
Filming at the Red Square is possible only after obtaining a special permit. Estimated time: 3-4 weeks. Estimate price: 250-300 Euro per filming hour. We have the possibility to help you get the filming permits to the Cosmonauts Preparation Center, Factories, Museums, etc. If you have any doubts about the permits required for your filming, please contact our fixers at info@filmspb.tv.
Permits for filming in Saint Petersburg
In Saint Petersburg, a small crew should be able to film on the street without obtaining permission. However legislation in this area is open to interpretation. If the local authority is not aware that you will be filming in the area there is a chance that you may be asked to stop. In theory, a ‘small crew’ is a crew of 5 people or fewer, using a handheld or a tripod camera. We can help you get filming permits to the Hermitage, Peter and Paul fortress, Battleship Aurora and other museums and palaces.
Permits for filming in the rest of Russia
Depending on the exact region the laws and regulations may change. Nevertheless, there are some things that are the same throughout the country:
Filming inside national reserves and parks requires a lot of paperwork. However, the permit-gathering procedure is relatively quick and takes anywhere from five to seven days. Filming at private locations requires only the permit from the owner.
For getting a film permit for a drone please follow the instruction on our aerial filming page.
Filming throughout Russia: Stadiums built for the FIFA World Cup 2018.
We can get the filming permits to film at any of these stadiums. Please contact us if you plan on filming in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan. Yekaterinburg, Sochi, Samara, Saransk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, or Rostov-on-Don.
Due to our good contacts and experience, we can process the paperwork and permits in a minimal amount of time.
Nevertheless, we need to know the following information about your project:
- Production name
- A short description of the story you plan to film in Russia
- Crew names
- Equipment list (sometimes with s/n)
- Filming dates
- Estimate the amount of time needed at the location
Please contact us to get all the film permits you need for realizing your project in Russia.
