Almaz Media

A film and video production house in Hanoi, Vietnam

Filming in Vietnam

 

In addition to our own production works we also provide international teams coming to Vietnam with all the necessary production services, from scouting to permits. We have experience with film, commercials, televisionand documentary crews, and had the chance to work with the finest in the industry

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So why is Vietnam hot for film & TVC now?

Untapped

With only a handful of international feature films shot in the country, a tremendous amount of locations are still untapped. With the recent opening of the country to bigger scale productions, it is still the moment to unravel the country’s potential for uniqueness for your productions

Variety

Vietnam boasts some of the most varied landscapes, architecture and lifestyles on theplanet. Tradition and hi-tech can be simultaneously found, and the country’s architecturalhistory makes a wealth of fascinating buildings available

Cost effective

Accommodation in luxury resorts, catering, crew, transportation, production units and artare considerably cheaper than in Europe and the US, with international standard serviceson the rise.

Frequently Asked Questions

Flying to Vietnam: Vietnam has three international airports, Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai in Hanoi and Da Nang international airport in central Vietnam.

Once applying for a film permit, the ministry will help you to get a Journalist Visa go with it. If you are coming just to scout, you can simply get a Tourist Visa. We can help to prepare invitation letters which allow you to get visa on arrival (or VoA) for one month or three months, single or multiple entries.

 

If you bring small crew with medium size professional equipment, it is considered as normal and you won’t run into problem. If you have a film permit, we can help to liaise with customs so that the equipment inspections will go smoothly. Unfortunately Vietnam is not a carnet country, increasing the difficulty in bringing equipment to use on a short term basis. Most equipment can be rented in the short or medium-term for standard rates in Vietnam. Speciality cameras, lenses, or rigging may need to be rented in HCMC, Singapore or Hong Kong and flown in.

 

Film permits are mandatory for all foreign media shoots in Vietnam. Although some productions successfully do shoot without one, we strongly advise against this. Almaz Media is able to provide film permits for any kind of production in Vietnam. While it can be challenging to get for some projects, good preparation will allow you the most successful shoot. Before you plan your production in Vietnam, here are the requirements you need to know:

  • Any production has to be followed by a foreign press officer, who is delegated by the ministry of culture of Vietnam. The production needs to cover the officer’s fee of 300 USD per day as well as all his travel, accommodation and and food costs during the production.
  • Your synopsis, as well as passport copies of every crew member, need to be submitted 6 weeks before for narrative filming, and 4 weeks before for documentary filming or TV commercial shoots.
  • It is impossible to film nudity, political issues, and ethnic minority issues. Some areas in the country are still closed to foreign productions.
  • Once your location schedule is set, the foreign press officer will coordinate with the local police of each area to make sure that the local authorities will not interfere with the shooting (trust us, it is worth it!).

We can arrange aerial filming in most areas of Vietnam, except for sensitive areas such as borders. Our technical crew is one of the best in Vietnam and can also provide a wide range of equipment, from Mavic to carrying an Alexa or a RED camera.

Filming in Vietnam Guide Book

Vietnam offers a host of possible experiences and settings to suite all productions and projects. If you want to bring your project to film in one of Vietnam’s thousands wonderful locations, you can, but will need to prepare. Our company is able to help you with every aspect of production services in Vietnam : location scouting, film permits, access, transportation, equipment rental, crew hire, fixers and interpreters. You can download our PDF guide to film in Vietnam.

How international is it?

– 4 flights per day per major city to main European airports
– 11 hour direct flights from Europe
– Flight fares from 500 Euros pax to LA or Paris
– GMT + 7 actually synchronises workflow with Europe and the US
– International money transfers
– Fast fiber optic internet & cheap 4G