5 Reasons to Take Your Next Commercial Production to Malta

Earlier this year, global production partner, LS Productions, announced they would be setting up a permanent warm water base on the island of Malta. The ambition? To bring global commercial, fashion, sport and music shoots to the Mediterranean island and place it front of mind in commercial production terms - as the blue sky, warm water location of choice, particularly during the UK winter season.

​However, as LS are keen to point out, there is much more to Malta than sunny skies. With a rich history of film-making, enticing rebate of up to 40% for film and TV projects, year round sun, stunning natural beauty, architecture ranging from the ancient to the modern, plus a booming hospitality and nightlife scene, Malta is one of the most production friendly destinations in Europe. With a fresh and relatively undiscovered look for commercial shoots, LS have just completed three very different shoots on the island since September, including a large commercial production, a major TV reality show and most recently a music video for Grammy award-winning singer songwriter Tems. ​

Five Reasons to take your next commercial production to Malta

1. World class crew and production expertise.​

Malta is a renowned filming destination, with a rich production history going back many years. Hollywood Blockbusters including Troy, Gladiator (and now Gladiator II), Jurassic World Dominion and Mission Impossible have all been shot on the island, as well as Game of Thrones and reality TV phenomena Below Deck giving the island an impressive cross-genre pedigree. The result of this is that Malta comes ready-made with a highly skilled and experienced crew base, which is all the more impressive when you consider that it is an island with a population of just over 500,000. Furthermore this expertise also means that sourcing specialist filming equipment on the island is rarely a problem, ensuring that Malta is in a very favourable position to adapt this offering to service commercial shoots. It is also home to a number of film studios, the largest water tank in Europe and offers exceptional expertise in nautical filming at sea making Malta an island that really knows how to work with film and photography projects. 

2. Exceptional and varied locations all within a short distance.

Another major draw that makes Malta so appealing is the diversity of its locations all within close proximity of one another. At only 95 square miles in area and 27 miles long, Malta is an island of multiple contrasts and backdrops, ensuring conveniently short unit moves for crews, shooting commercial work on a tight schedule. Add to this that Malta is still relatively new and undiscovered in commercial production terms meaning the locations it has to offer look fresh, intriguing and different in commercial, fashion and music productions. 

In terms of the locations themselves, Malta is an island of outstanding natural beauty, with a rich cross-section of scenery ranging from lush green valleys, terraced hillsides, unspoilt tranquil beaches, hidden caves and stunning coastal vistas. Malta is also able to double for many long-haul parts of the world. Further enhancing the unique quality of its locations is its long and complicated history which has left behind a vast architectural record. With three UNESCO world heritage sites, Malta is littered with structures from prehistory, sitting alongside structures from Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine and early Christian periods. It is also renowned for its exceptional Baroque architecture- exemplified in the beautiful city of Valletta. Today Malta is a vibrant modern hub and a centre for design and architecture, with Valletta a recent European Capital of Culture host. 

3. Year round sun and lower average annual rainfall than Majorca. 

With Majorca often the ‘go to’ destination for warm water commercial jobs from Europe, the comparable sun, rainfall and daylight hour stats for Malta make for interesting reading. On average Malta stays consistently three degrees warmer than Majorca throughout the core winter months and stays significantly warmer across summer. Furthermore with a precious extra hour of daylight in December, January and February, it offers maximum value for money shooting time in the winter months. Plus whilst none of us can control the weather, with a lower average annual rainfall it’s one of the best options out there for guaranteeing a dry shoot.

4. Safe, fun and easy to reach for a smooth production experience.

As a leading tourist destination welcoming over 1.5 million tourists every year, Malta is exceptionally well connected to all major European hubs and offers regular one-stop flights to LA and New York. It is also known for being a safe destination, listed as the 7th safest small country to visit and the 15th safest overall globally. Just three hours away from London it is easy to reach and well stocked with a range of hotels suitable for crew and clients. It also has a burgeoning foodie scene with six Michelin starred restaurants on the island as well as a diverse, global offering for casual dining, which is also reflected in the breadth of the catering options available on set. Throw into the mix a great nightlife scene and it has all the ingredients to enable a production that runs seamlessly and one that clients and crew want to return to time and time again.

5. A highly competitive package offering great value for money.

When you package all these benefits together Malta really starts to demonstrate why it is a highly cost effective production destination for commercial work. Combining highly experienced crew at competitive rates, diversity of locations all a short distance from each, short haul flights from all major European hubs, a range of accommodation and entertainment options plus longer daylight hours to maximise shoot times its value really starts to show. 

Interested to learn more? Get in touch with LS Productions team here.