Step1
Send the treatment and the schedule
Even a rough one. We need to know what you are trying to film, over how many days, in what season, and how much of it is fixed. We will tell you what is realistic before you budget it.
Film and documentary
Fixing, not tour guiding.
Permits, locations, access, crew and remote logistics for documentary, factual and commercial production in Mongolia.
Productions in Mongolia come unstuck on the same three things: a permit that was never applied for, a family who agreed to something they did not fully understand, and a vehicle eleven hours from the nearest workshop. All three are avoidable with the right preparation.
We fix all three in advance. This is production support rather than guiding — recce and location work, permit applications, drone registration with the civil aviation authority, negotiated and documented access to households and communities, local crew, and the unglamorous field logistics that keep a schedule intact when the weather turns. We have worked alongside research and conservation projects in the Gobi and the Altai, which is a useful thing to have behind you when a shoot needs to reach somewhere real.
What we do.
Set out clearly, so you can see what sits with us and what stays with you.
We handle
- Location recce, with stills, coordinates, access notes and honest travel times
- Filming permit applications, including protected areas and heritage sites
- Drone registration with the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia and commercial operating permission
- Border-zone permits where a location sits inside a restricted band
- Negotiated access to herding households, eagle hunters, monasteries and festivals, with fees and consent agreed in writing beforehand
- Local crew: fixers, translators, drivers, camp cook, camera assistants and additional vehicles
- Remote logistics — fuel, generators, catering, mobile camp, satellite communication and a medical plan
- Schedule and contingency planning against real Mongolian travel times rather than map distances
- On-the-ground problem solving for the duration of the shoot
You handle
- Camera, lighting, sound and grip equipment, which we can source or you can bring
- Customs clearance and carnet for imported equipment, though we will advise and introduce you to a broker
- Editorial decisions, story and direction — that is your work, and we will not pretend otherwise
- Insurance for crew and equipment
- Archive and stock footage licensing
- Government permit and location fees, which we pass through at cost
Pricing.
Quoted per project, in writing, so you can build a budget before you commit.
Fixers, recces, permits, crew, vehicles, camp, catering and access fees are quoted per project against your schedule. A day rate suits a small documentary crew doing its own logistics; a percentage of in-country spend suits productions with a larger footprint.
Government fees, permits and third-party costs are passed through at cost with receipts. A written quotation on letterhead is available for your budget or grant application at no charge.
How it works.
The earlier we start, the fewer things are impossible.
Step2
Recce
Either we scout and send you stills, coordinates and access notes, or we take your director out. For anything with a fixed shoot window in a remote region, the recce pays for itself.
Step3
Permits and access
Applications go in. Filming permits, protected-area permission, drone registration, border-zone paperwork where relevant. In parallel we approach the families and communities you want to film and agree terms in writing.
Step4
Crew and logistics locked
Vehicles, fixers, translators, cook, camp, fuel, power and comms, planned against the schedule with contingency days where the weather demands them.
Step5
The shoot
We are with you throughout, solving what comes up. Guides and drivers can change a plan in the field, and on a shoot that authority is exercised with your producer rather than around them.
Worth knowing.
The details that decide whether a project runs or stalls.
Registration is mandatory
Foreign operators must register with the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia and hold a temporary licence. Rules include visual line of sight, daylight only, a height ceiling, and a minimum distance from any aerodrome. Commercial filming needs explicit permission beyond recreational registration, and military and government sites are closed entirely.
Consent, in writing, in advance
We agree what will be filmed, how it will be used and what the household will be paid before a camera comes out. Turning up and negotiating on the doorstep produces bad footage and worse relationships, and it closes the door for whoever comes next.
Map kilometres lie
A hundred kilometres of unsurfaced track is four hours, not one. Schedules built from a map rather than from experience are the most common reason a shoot loses a day it cannot afford.
Winter is not an obstacle
It is the reason to come, for eagle hunting, ice and low light. It does mean shorter usable days, battery management, vehicle preparation and camps that are properly heated. We plan for it rather than discouraging it.
Questions.
Asked often enough to answer here.
How far ahead do you need?
Eight to twelve weeks is comfortable for a documentary with permits and remote access. Four is possible for something contained. Under two weeks we will tell you honestly what has to be cut.
Can you get us access to eagle hunters or a herding family?
Yes, through relationships built over many years. That takes time and it is paid for properly. We will not deliver a family who has been told they are getting visitors and finds a film crew.
Do you provide camera equipment?
We can source basic kit and grip locally and arrange generators and power in the field. Most crews bring their own bodies and glass; we will advise on customs and introduce you to a broker for the carnet.
Can you work with a solo self-shooter?
Yes. A single director-operator with a fixer, driver and translator is one of the most effective ways to work here, and considerably cheaper than a full crew.
What about interviews in Mongolian or Kazakh?
We supply interpreters briefed on your subject beforehand, and can arrange transcription and translation of rushes. Kazakh matters in Bayan-Ölgii and we will supply a Kazakh speaker for work in the far west.
Send us the treatment.
Even in rough form. We will tell you what is possible in that window, in that season, at that budget.
Request this serviceOther services.
Most projects need two or three of these together.