Written by on Feb 14, 2012. Posted in On Location

Virtual stage firm comes to Studio Babelsberg as productions chase filming incentives

Virtual stage specialist Stargate Studios is opening a branch at Studio Babelsberg near Berlin. With more productions chasing filming incentives to shoot in Germany, Stargate will offer an on-site resource to projects looking to create environments not available locally.

Stargate specialises in green screen technology and is based in Pasadena in California. Most of its business comes from TV projects looking to save money on expensive location filming. However, TV production is declining in California partly because the state’s current television filming incentive is a short-term measure.

The workhorse of the industry is the television series and we’ve lost it to incentives.

Sam Nicholson, Stargate Studios

Sam Nicholson started Stargate Studios back in 1989 and spoke to the LA Times: “The workhorse of the industry is the television series and we’ve lost it to incentives.”

Stargate also has a branch in Malta, which is a popular filming location due to its Mediterranean climate and world-renowned water tank facilities. With the company expecting to eventually spend some USD13 million on its Studio Babelsberg branch, it’s an indicator of how filming incentives around the world are impacting the wider filming industry.