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Has anyone had experience with shooting in China?

6 years, 9 months ago - Felix von Nida

Am currently putting together a shoot for a client who wants to film partly at their factory in China and I'm wondering what restrictions/unexpected difficulties I might come up against with customs/permits etc.

It will be a very small crew, just myself as a run and gun and the 2 clients.

Shooting on 5Ds with a large tripod, Ronin S and a couple of lights.

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6 years, 9 months ago - Marlom Tander

Don't take any kit. Get your client to hire it locally and have it ready for you. There is no point in risking customs balls ups for klt you can hire in country. DO make sure you fully understand the Visa rules and have the right Visa.

Response from 6 years, 9 months ago - Marlom Tander SHOW

6 years, 9 months ago - Nadaav Soudry

I have filmed several times in mainland China. The best practice has always ended up being hiring kit and crew in China. I say kit AND crew for a reason. Firstly the kit in China is often poorly maintained, and includes lower quality imitations of tripods and electronic kit. Get an owner/operator involved, who is at least responsible for his/her own kit.

Failing that, you could hire but just beware there are a lot of sharks there. Allow yourself plenty of time examine the kit and to make alternative arrangements if you are unhappy.

If you are hiring from abroad it is common to be asked to bank transfer your fee in advance. This created issues for me both for my own sense of security, and for getting the money to the company in time. Fortunately there are now much faster and cheaper international money transfers available than when I first started filming there. The best I remember being able to arrange was 50% up front by transfer, and 50% on my collection of equipment, in cash.

Definitely do: get yourself the appropriate visa. Especially if you are likely to be filming exteriors - depending where you are, the police can be rather officious.

Definitely make sure you get the visa and relevant paperworked examined and stamped on the way in. I have, at times, had to find and wake up the officials required, and it would have been easy to just walk straight through. Not worth the risk though.

Response from 6 years, 9 months ago - Nadaav Soudry SHOW