News

Alvernia: a new film production complex that pushes the boundaries

17 July 2009

Futuristic facility targets international productions with stellar design and world-class equipment spec

It looks like something from a movie. But Alvernia Studios is no scaled down model of a futuristic industrial plant on a film set. It’s the film set itself, or rather a fully-fledged movie production works, kitted out with nothing but the best, and it’s massive. The two largest domes, now nearing completion, would each be capable of encompassing a smattering of houses and a small church. Instead they are home to the main sound stages, each with a central height of 25m and a 6,300m² floor area.

But it isn’t only its striking appearance, or the fact that, as the magazine Resolution put it, ‘it’s the biggest and most sophisticated film facility build anywhere in recent years’ that makes Alvernia noteworthy. The brainchild of Stanislaw Tyczynski, an entrepeneur who founded RMF FM, Poland’s first commercial radio station, it also breaks new ground in terms of location. Sited a few miles west of Krakow, it is Poland’s first and only top flight film production complex, representing an investment of more than $200m. And it is positioning itself not only to serve the domestic market but to attract international film makers, with residential features such as a restaurant and an onsite hotel in addition to its studios.

The 88R-equipped control room in Alvernia's scoring facility, and (right) the main studio showing variable acoustic technology

The audio facilities are breathtaking. Equipped with a 72-fader Neve 88R the music scoring studio can accommodate orchestras or choirs in excess of 100 people. The acoustic properties are, basically, what you want them to be. Along with rotating wall panels offering a range of surfaces from absorbent to hard and reflective, there is a flown acoustic board ‘pine cone’ which opens out for variable absorption of reflections.

The 490m² dubbing theatre is fitted with a 96-fader DFC Gemini, while the two smaller sound post production studios are each fitted with AMS Neve MMC 300s (click here for a full equipment list). Acoustic architecture – by no means a straightforward job given the unusual shapes of the buildings – was in the expert hands of Andy Munro of Munro Acoustics.

Piotr Witkowski in front of the DFC Gemini in Alvernia's dubbing theatre

On the video side, there are two 2000m² and two 124m² sound stages in addition to the main domes, a further large casting/ rehearsal stage, plus full production facilities including offices, a chemical lab and colour correction studios. And naturally the infrastructure includes fibreoptic networking of all functions – audio video, control and IT.

Such a comprehensive and intricately planned project didn’t spring into being overnight, but getting it ready for operation has been remarkably quick: the process from concept to commissioning has taken less than five years. Now, reports Piotr Witkowski, who has been in charge of the technical realization of Tyczynski’s vision, all bar a few elements are complete, and Alvernia has started taking bookings. Movie makers looking to realize their visions should click here.

---

News & Events