McMafia filmed global locations
Major new drama McMafia filmed in various locations across the world with the majority of the shoot taking place in Croatia and London.
By Nia Daniels 19 Dec 2017
Major new drama McMafia filmed in various locations across the world with the majority of the shoot taking place in Croatia and London.
The eight-part series is co-produced by the BBC, AMC and London-based Cuba Pictures, in association with Twickenham Studios.
Created by Hussein Amini and James Watkins – the latter also directed – the production is inspired by Misha Glenny’s book of the same name.
James Norton, David Strathairn and Faye Marsay star in McMafia, which tells the story of a man who struggles to escape the shadow of a criminal past but find himself drawn deeper into the world of organised crime through his extended family’s Russian mafia connections.
The lengthy shoot took in a wide range of global filming backdrops. James Player was supervising location manager for the London end, which used a massive 75 locations.
In comments to KFTV, Player said the biggest challenge of the London shoot was the sheer volume of locations: "In total we shot around 75 different places in around 65 days. The tone of the show is incredibly high-end with very wealthy characters, so nothing short of spectacular venues would suffice and the pace of the scripts called for a huge array of locations.
"We shot everywhere from the V&A and British Museums to The Dorchester, The Langham and Sky Garden, all in the first couple of weeks, before ending with Heathrow Airport, Lancaster House and the amazing Waddesdon Manor.
"Constantly jumping from place to place was a huge challenge, but having an amazing and dedicated team made a hugely ambitious project possible."
The second leg of location filming took place in Croatia and comprised two blocks over four months in total.
Croatia offers a 30% filming incentive, a rebate scheme that has helped attract high-profile productions such as Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, historical anthology drama The Terror, Game of Thrones and Robin Hood, reportedly the biggest production the country has ever hosted.
McMafia also filmed for around a week in Mumbai, and took reduced units for much briefer stints to Tel Aviv, Prague, Cairo, Belgrade, Moscow, Istanbul, Quatar and Belize.
For more on filming in Crotia and the UK, head to our production guides.
In comments to KFTV, Player said the biggest challenge of the London shoot was the sheer volume of locations: "In total we shot around 75 different places in around 65 days. The tone of the show is incredibly high-end with very wealthy characters, so nothing short of spectacular venues would suffice and the pace of the scripts called for a huge array of locations.
"We shot everywhere from the V&A and British Museums to The Dorchester, The Langham and Sky Garden, all in the first couple of weeks, before ending with Heathrow Airport, Lancaster House and the amazing Waddesdon Manor.
"Constantly jumping from place to place was a huge challenge, but having an amazing and dedicated team made a hugely ambitious project possible."
The second leg of location filming took place in Croatia and comprised two blocks over four months in total.
Croatia offers a 30% filming incentive, a rebate scheme that has helped attract high-profile productions such as Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, historical anthology drama The Terror, Game of Thrones and Robin Hood, reportedly the biggest production the country has ever hosted.
McMafia also filmed for around a week in Mumbai, and took reduced units for much briefer stints to Tel Aviv, Prague, Cairo, Belgrade, Moscow, Istanbul, Quatar and Belize.
For more on filming in Crotia and the UK, head to our production guides.
Latest news & features
Featured profiles
Promote your services with KFTV
Choose from three profile types - Basic, Silver and Gold
Create ProfileWe offer a range of display advertising opportunities.
Learn More