Move postproduction to Poland
Why should you do your postproduction in Poland
Film market is dynamically changing and evolving because of technology development as well as production model globalization. Physical boundaries are not as issue anymore. Postproduction is particularly prone to those changes. As stated in PWC’s report [1] it gets more and more complex what in turn impacts its budgeting. One way to save money is to outsource some of the tasks in developing countries that are way cheaper but still provide you with very high quality work.
Polish filmmaking
Every year hudreds of film enthusiast and film specialist graduate from Polish educational centers. The very heart of Polish filmmaking beats in Łódź. Łódź Film School (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa) opened its doors in 1948 and has been operating ever since what makes it one of the oldest European film schools. It specializes in educating operators, editors, digital compositors and photographers.
In the 60s Łódź Film School graduates such as Andrzej Wajda created an innovative artistic formation in a post-war era known as Polish film school. Wajda has been awarded a Film Academy Prize in 2000 for his lifetime achievements.
Other graduates of Łódź Film School are:
Roman Polański – one of the greatest of the greatest in the film industry. He was nominated to Oscar and Palme d’Or for many of his works. His career launched in Poland but he’s emigrated to the US because of difficult political situation in our country. His films include “The Pianist”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, “The Tenant” and “Chinatown”.
Zbigniew Rybczyński – praised multimedia artist. He’s been awarded an Oscar for a short animation “Tango” in 1980. He’s also responsible for music videos for the biggest in the stardom such as Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Lou Reed.
Another public film educational center is Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice. It has been opened in 1978. It offers courses on direction, film and television production, photography and creative management in new media. Bartosz Konopka, who was an alumni was nominated for Oscar. Many of the school graduates were also on multiple occasions awarded the most important Polish film award – the Golden Lion..
The rise of the creative industry
Polish creative market is being recognized as equally good as other western countries. Within last 30 years, after the fall of communism our economy has been growing increasingly stable and started attracting investors from all over the world. After joining European Union in 2004 the market has opened up what made investing and global cooperation a lot easier. Last years has shown steady increase of GDP, which now oscillates at roughly 3,6% yearly. That places Poland at the very top on the list of European countries.
The audiovisual market grows more and more important economically. In Poland it’s currently worth roughly 5 billion PLN. Production alone is worth 200 million PLN. In 2021 302 movies and TV productions have been release in Poland. According to Central Statistical Office in 2020 creative market in Poland consisted of more than 250 000 people and over 40% of them work in the film industry. In comparison, in 2013 it was only 17 200 people employed in the film industry. Today, audiovisual market provides almost 100 000 employees with a steady income. It’s truly overwhelming how quickly the industry is growing. It also shows how much potential is there.
Studios like Platige Image are currently confidently taking position as world’s leaders. The company cooperates with 150 audiovisual artists who are responsible for creating works for NBCUniversal or European Space Agency.
Another thing worth mentioning is Polish integrated audiovisual production support system that guarantees 30% return of incurred costs. It covers feature films, cartoons, documentaries and TV series (feature, documentaries and animations). It does not only apply to Polish productions but also to international co-productions as well as services tailored for foreign works.
Who invests in Poland?
Outsourcing various services in Eastern European countries has become a standard in many industries. For over a dozen years Poland has been recognized as one of the most attractive countries in that regard. It is especially true for tech industry, what has become a staple of our economy. The biggest companies to invest on the Polish market are Samsung, Intel, Google and Microsoft. As a matter of fact, Microsoft is intending to invest over one billion of dollars in developing Polish Digital Valley that is supposed to be a centre of cloud – based solutions for Central Europe.
Well organized environment consisting of various investments, skilled specialists and know-how enables easy transfer of knowledge and solutions, what in turn helps with development of other similar industries, such as film postproduction. It is certainly worth considering while picking the next outsourcing location.
Polish media and entertainment industries are ones of the fastest developing if considering Central an Eastern Europe region. In 2022 its worth was estimated to reach over 12 billion US dollars [2]. It involves public sector as well as big companies and media holdings. Warner Bros. Discovery is the owner of the biggest TV station in Poland (TVN). Canal+ has been operating on the Polish market since 1994. TVP, our public television also focuses on constant improvements. In 2022 they have started building the most advanced studio in the country what will certainly greatly improve quality of their materials. New TVP quarters that is going to be developed in the nearest future is supposed to cost 150 million USD.
Film in Poland
Poland is home to few hundred film festival. According to official data there are over 150 of them every year. The most popular is Nowe Horyzonty (New Horizons) that is focused on promoting movies from all over the world. Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych (Feature Film Festival) that takes place in Gdynia features most important Polish productions. Poles are more and more in love with films and are eager to see what’s new. In 2021 Nowe Horyzonty attracted over 100 000 people, what was an overwhelming result. Gdynia’s festival was visited by over 75 000. Undoubtedly, the major feast for cinema lovers is Docs Against Gravity festival. It is being hosted by the biggest Polish cities. It celebrated 20th anniversary in 2022 and attracted over 170 000 attendees.
How do Polish filmeditors work?
Work of Polish filmeditors and operators is very well perceived and all over the world. Films such as “Ida”, “Zimna Wojna (Cold War)” or “Twój Vincent (Loving Vincent)” as well as this year’s Oscar nominee “EO” are created solely by Polish artists. Polish filmeditors work on:
– Avid Media Composer
– Adobe After FX
– Adobe Premiere Pro
and are using high quality equipment. That does not affect the cost of their work which is influenced by lower than Western pay rates.
All of the abovementioned reasons confirm that Poland is a trustworthy market that has plenty to offer. It has already been chosen by many a company within many industries such as IT and heavy engineering. Now it is time for film industry to join them.
[1] https://www.pwc.pl/pl/publikacje/assets/raport_pwc_wsparcie_podatkowe_2.pdf
