Production Services in Portugal

Swixer is your go-to production service company when filming in Portugal and can help you book locations, crew, logistics and more. Our locally based Fixers, Producers and Production Managers comes with local knowledge and can help manage and coordinate international shoots of any kind. We have experience in both TV-series, feature films, branded content, commercials, documentaries, corporate as well as still shoots. Our crew operates and provides production services all across Portugal.

Filming in Portugal

Fixers, Producers & Local Crew in Portugal

The Swixer crew in Portugal has qualified professionals and talent is available at competitive prices. Portuguese teams are used to working in international productions and have extensive experience in film, TV, commercial and events production. The teams are mostly fluent in English. Spanish and French are also widely spoken.

Depending on the scale of the production we are happy to provide staff who are trained to do several of the mentioned tasks, so they can cover more than one position on a project where the production allows. Except for fixers, producers and production managers, we can also provide crew and sound operators in Portugal.

Filming locations in Portugal

Portugal offers a remarkable variety of attractions and landscapes within a compact area. Visitors can explore everything from sun-drenched beaches, historic castles and palaces, to impressive monuments, ancient architecture, modern buildings, churches, cathedrals, monasteries, and charming parks. The country is also home to historic villages and walled cities full of character.

The natural scenery is just as diverse – ranging from mountains, forests and plains to rocky cliffs, valleys, caves, rivers, lakes and lagoons. One of Portugal’s greatest advantages is that these diverse landscapes are all within close reach. You can travel from north to south by car in under five hours.

Portugal is also well-connected, with six international airports (Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal, São Miguel and Lajes), five international ports, and an accessible rail network. In short, getting around Portugal is both easy and efficient.

Facilities, studios and equipment

Most studios are available in the Lisbon, Porto and Algarve areas, equipped with the latest technology. There are also projects to develop new areas for this purpose, which will provide Portugal with infrastructure capable of meeting the most difficult requirements at an international level. Post-production is mostly located in the Lisbon metropolitan area and in the north region of the country.

When filming in Portugal you always get an affordable cost of living, great hotel offers and high quality cuisine.

Filming permits in Portugal

Generally filming permits are not hard to get in Portugal. For some guidance we recommend reading the following:

The Simulator “Filming in Portugal“, which identifies the administrative procedures for licensing, authorization or prior communication necessary for the production of filming on national territory.

The “Guide to Filming in Portugal“, is intended for all those who want to film in Portugal and will be duly updated whenever deemed necessary.

The “Green Shooting Portugal” Guide, that aims to raise awareness and inform the audio-visual sector on how to follow sustainable environmental practices, leading to greener production models.

Portugal has co-production agreements with more than 60 countries around the world, including all countries with Portuguese as the official language, which represent +250 million Portuguese speakers (such as Brazil, Mozambique and Angola). Portugal also has agreements with countries in Latin America.

Another thing worth mentioning is that according to the Global Peace Index of 2020, Portugal is the 3rd safest country in the world.

The climate in Portugal

Long hours of sunshine and clear skies – almost 300 days of sunshine a year and low levels of precipitation, allowing production throughout the year, with great natural light. Average temperature: 16ºC/61°F.

Although Portugal has a coastline that faces the Atlantic Ocean, its climate is very much like that of most Mediterranean countries This makes Portugal a country popular to film in if you are depending on a sunny weather.