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Travel Channel, one of the world's most popular TV channels with travel and leisure oriented contents, is currently making a documentary about Lithuania. “The American producers have contacted us without any high expectation in mind; as they later admitted, just firing a blind shot. They were simply looking for a filming site in this part of the world, as their program is covering different cultures and regions,” recalls Jūratė Pazikaitė, Director of the Vilnius Film Office. However, what the Travel Channel team found in Vilnius has struck them so much that they immediately decided to make Lithuania their next shooting location.

“The professional level of our office was so good that there was no need to engage in long discussions – everything was ready-made and available right away. So here we are, in Lithuania, filming already for one week,” smiles Ms. Pazikaitė.

A team from Los Angeles has already shot a few scenes involving Lithuanian strength athletes exhibiting their unique skills, as well as the production of a Lithuanian traditional honey based drink Midus (mead in English, or Madhu Madya in Sanskrit).

They were also fascinated by the historical landscape of Vilnius, traditional wooden crosses and the countless number of stork nests scattered across the country.

“Our new American friends joke that Vilnius has become their most favorite city, because the qualities of being unique and at the same time being simple blend in so smoothly here,” says Milda Leiputė, producer at the NordicProductions, a local film production company.

Travel Channel plans to run its feature stories on Lithuania at the end of 2014.

In 2013, 37 films were shot in Vilnius, of which eleven were carried out by foreign production companies. The estimate budget of these operations stood at LTL28.2million ($11 million), creating 3,417 new jobs.

Source: 15min.lt