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Field trip to Korda Film Studio and Etyeki Kúria

Course: business strategy in CEE

On Friday, the 27th of April, our day started at 9AM. After we all gathered the lost students around Corvinus, we started to search for the bus, which would bring us to the first destination of our field trip: Korda film studio.

It was nice to have a chat with your fellow students besides the classes and it was a good opportunity for us to get to know each other more. There were not only students from the Business Strategy in CEE course, but also other students from Corvinus who were just interested in this field trip, either in the field of media and entertainment or more in the “wine field” part of the day.  Moreover, I really liked to see more of the countryside of Hungary and go (only a little bit) outside of Budapest for this day and we were so lucky with the weather.

 

Korda Film Studio

The first part of the field tip started with an inspiring talk given by the executive vice president of Korda Film Studio, Jonathan Helperyn. Korda film studio is a film studio complex 26 km west of Budapest since 2007. The first film produced here was HellboyII: The Golden Army and later some great series and films were produced as well, such as Season of the Witch, The Borgias, World Without End and the Martian. Jonathan started talking about the film studio, the stages, the set, the celebrities coming here, his live, his career and his role in the production of these amazing films. Although we were sitting in really comfortable cinema seats, the room was cozy dark and our day had started early, he kept us definitely awake. The talk was interesting, and he told us a lot about the insides of the production of films. Not only the differences between the film production in Europe and America were taught, but also the differences between Hungary, Poland, Czech-Republic and other eastern European countries were discussed. Why should producers choose Hungary over other central European countries and what makes this country different from other countries, which are really interesting questions related to this course. The topic of content and commercialization was given extra attention. The balance between these two is one of the most important things when producing a film. On the one hand, the story and the message should be there, but on the other hand, the movie should attract many people and should be distributed to as many countries as possible. Jonathan spoke really passionated about his work, which made it definitely interesting to listen to him. If you liked it, don’t forget about the internship possibilities he offered at the end!

  

Tour around Korda Studio

After this talk, it was time to start the tour and see the “real” sets. We have seen two sets, the New York Street and Medieval City environment. It is really funny that all these buildings, streets and shops look so real from the outside, but when you feel the material or have a quick look inside, there is only styrofoam and wood. I think, we will never look the same at certain movies. Unfortunately, the studios inside are secret and we couldn’t have a look in one of the six inside studios. Although there was no coffee at Korda film studio, we managed to stay awake due to the fresh air and exciting things to do. During the inside tour, we had the opportunity to try certain settings and rooms ourselves, such as the upside-down room, the green screen and to make the fake sound of rain. Next you can see a picture of the upside-down room, which is the kind of techniques they use in movies like spiderman.

  

Etyeki Kúria

The second part of the field trip was Etyeki Kúria, one of the famous wineries in the Etyek region. We first had a little introduction and have a quick look around. Since it is not allowed to come near the wine because of hygiene reasons, they made everything out of glass, so all the visitors could still have a look without coming too close, a really innovative and creative solution! After this little introduction and tour, we got a lecture from the passionated director of this winery. He told us about the wine history of Hungary, the region and his own particular winery. Although only this one winery produces already 230.000 bottles of wine, whole Hungary only produces 1% of the world wine production. So, from a worldwide perspective, I believe that Hungary could definitely improve its position in the wine industry and there is a lot to gain in that sense. He told us that the Pinot Noir is their most important and highest quality wine they have, so we should all try this one once! After the presentation, we finally had the change to taste one of their wines, the sparkling one. Since most of us didn’t have had time to have lunch, it was a good thing that we just had one glass. During this little wine tasting we had the chance to have a more time to chat with each other, which was really fun and nice. Let’s have some more wine together after the course has ended and our final papers are submitted.

  

 

Thank you all for the lovely day!

Nathalie Meutstege, 2018

Student in IEB Program

Photos: author, editor, 2018 (own work)