Moncea estimates the value of foreign films will also increase by 10 percent. The company claims some 50 percent of market share. According to the Ministry of Finance, Castel Film posted turnover worth some €6.5 mln in 2007.

The most important competitor of Castel Film in terms of foreign film production is MediaPro, whose market share is estimated by Moncea at some 40 percent. “We make about 12 foreign films annually, while they probably make 8 or 9,” he said.

The Castel Film studio was established in 1992, with construction on studios beginning in 1993. “We have two film studios, with a surface of over 10,000 square meters,” added Moncea. Castel Film has made over 125 films and hundreds of commercials.

The company’s most important production is “Cold Mountain,” also the most important film ever made in Romania, with a budget worth $85 million (€54.68 mln). Two other major American productions were produced at Castel Film, “Adam Resurrected” and “Mirrors,” with similar budgets to those of Cold Mountain, bringing Jeff Goldblum, Willem Defoe and Kiefer Sutherland to Romania for filming.

The main problem in Romania is related to unjustifiably high fees film producers are obliged to pay to the Bucharest’s authorities, with the country’s capital one of the most expensive cities in Europe, exceeding Berlin, Paris and Prague, even though the latter have many more beautiful locations than Bucharest, according to Moncea.