MASTERY FILMS – FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY

Providing the film production services for the Thailand Unit of Gold Land, a Disney+ series: what we did for the Korean Film Production in Thailand

There's a certain energy and vibe that comes with working on a high-profile Disney+ series. The stakes are greater, the expectations are higher, and every department needs to be on their A-game from day one. To be honest, we love it! It’s what the team at Mastery Films lives for. We were fortunate, and grateful that the production team behind the Korean criminal thriller Gold Land sought our film production services for their shoot in Thailand.

Here’s how it all came together for the Korean Film Production in Thailand, what we as the Thailand film production company delivered, and what the experience informs us about why Thailand continues to attract the world’s top streaming productions.

Mastery Films was required to provide all the support needed for the K-Drama production in Thailand from prep through shoot. Goes without saying that everything needed to be ready and in order before the main crew arrived from abroad. The shooting locations needed to be shortlisted so the director could lock in his preferred locations for the tech recce before the shoot days, the local crew lined up, hotels booked, and vans fueled and everything else. Our job was to make sure the Korean team and their director had everything they needed logistically in order for them to fulfill their creative vision.

All of this was successfully executed with key members from our in-house team including:

• Andrew Millet – Line Producer
• Ai Chanyanuch – Production Manager
• Ace Nawalakul – Production Coordinator
• Lenah Chantakarn – Art Department Coordinator

The local crew for Gold Land was a little smaller than some of our other productions such as Typhoon Family and A Shop for Killers 2, which actually made a lot of sense seeing that we needed to do quite a lot of company moves during shooting days and we needed the flexibility. This one also didn’t have a significant art dept. needed either, so having a lean workforce helped to keep the shoot’s footprint in check.

Every Korean production has its own personality, but there are patterns that you come to understand when you've worked on as many Korean shoots as we have. The Gold Land team was, genuinely, one of the most pleasant and professional groups we've worked with. The director was communicative, collaborative, and engaging with the local team. That matters more than what most people might realise.

Korean productions tend to operate with a certain fluidity. Last-minute requests are to be expected, schedule changes are a given, new ideas should be expected along with other such tweaks. For a production partner that isn't used to this, it can feel chaotic. For us, it's simply how a Korean shoot works. At the end of the day, Korean cinema has created some of the most creative and memorable works of art we've all come to respect and cherish. We’ve built our team to recognize and accommodate the Korean methodology and our processes around being able to respond quickly without compromising the expected quality.

The key is communication: constant, clear, and honest communication. When the Korean team asks for something, we conduct our research and let them know as soon as we can whether it's possible, what estimated costs are, and how long it will take to accomplish said task. We don't overpromise. We don't say yes to everything and then scramble. We give them an honest answer, present alternatives where we can, and then we deliver on what we commit to. That approach builds trust quickly, and on Gold Land, we had a strong working relationship with the Korean team from very early on in the shoot.

Let’s discuss the locations where the shoot happened

After careful shortlisting and selecting by the director and the Korean production team, here’s where the Thailand Filming happened:

The number of Korean Film Productions in Thailand keeps growing every year. Here are some of the Film Production Services that they love!

First, there’s locations. Let’s use Gold Land as an example. It required a backdrop that felt true to that story’s underground and illegal backdrop. Bangkok was able to provide that production perfectly. Location-wise, Thailand has a brutal concrete energy in some areas, a neon-soaked street life in others, swarths of colonial era architecture, traditional markets, riverbank culture, beaches, jungle and rural landscapes that can fulfill practically any visual brief. 

With locations, also comes the welcoming vibe that Thailand provides for filming. Thailand, in general, is quite welcoming to film crews. People know that production activity helps the local economy and that goodwill creates cooperation that makes shots operate more smoothly. Compared to some of the other countries that are filming options in the region where location resistance, bureaucratic friction and unpredictable access may hinder even a well-planned production, Thailand's advantage is evident. 

Thirdly, it’s the film production support ecosystem present in Thailand. Other nations in the region also have beautiful and stunning locations, but when you add in other key factors that international productions might look at when deciding on their next film production destinations such as: logistical infrastructure, the reliability of the local crew, the level of transparency of the film production systems, the overall costing, the level of government censorship and the consistent and established administrative framework for visas and permits, Thailand is in a league of its own. 

On top of that, Thailand has a well-oiled cash rebate machine in place for foreign productions that film in Thailand, offering a rebate of up to 30% to film productions for any production with a local spend that is higher than 50 million Thai Baht (Approximately 1.5 million USD). This is something that only a handful of other countries in the region offer. 

You see, Thailand is not a fledgling film business finding its feet. It’s a sophisticated, internationally experienced machine that just happens to be much cheaper than comparable markets. The quality of crew you can find in Thailand, compared to the cost, is a really great deal. For example, crew members hired on Gold Land also have experience working on the large-scale Hollywood blockbusters that were shot in Thailand as well such as Jurassic World: Rebirth, The Meg, Alien: Earth, and The White Lotus. Going abroad and knowing that your crews are ready to perform the task at hand is a big advantage for Thailand as a filming destination. 

Gold Land is the latest in a growing line of important international films Mastery Films has delivered in Thailand. It’s the kind of work we do best: high-profile, high-expectation productions where there’s little margin for error and no substitute for experience. 

As a full-service production company, we don't only deliver personnel or locations on their own, we'll be on hand to guarantee the entire Thailand leg of your production is a success from the initial site search to the last wrap day. Our in-house staff of line producers, production managers, coordinators and art directors work with a network of experienced local vendors and crew that have been vetted over years of working on international production. 

Mastery Films specializes in foreign film productions. We understand the culture, the process, the communication style, the creative ambition that these teams bring to what they do. And we know how to translate that ambition into something that works on the ground in Thailand, efficiently, professionally, and at the standard that Disney+, Netflix and other global platforms demand.

It was an honour to work on Gold Land in partnership with such a skilled and competent Korean team and with the best film teams in Thailand to support them! We hope you have time to get a quick peak at the acclaimed series on Disney+. 

Planning to shoot in Thailand?

If you are considering bringing your shoot to Thailand, and would like to work with one of the top film production companies in Thailand that provide experienced and affordable film crews in Thailand, we feel we can be of service to you in your next Thailand video production. 

Visit masteryfilms.com and contact our staff.