entertainment industry
January 19, 2010, 09:48 CET
Football club FTC to start work on multifunctional complex in Budapest
Football club FTC has received permission to start construction of a 22,000-seat stadium on Budapest's Üllői út, FTC Zrt CEO Krisztián Berki told vg.hu (subscriber only). Works can start in summer. The project is being planned by the British Scarborough... [read complete entry]
January 11, 2010, 11:39 CET
Hungary's cinemas see growth in ticket sales in '09 despite downturn
Hungary's cinemas closed 2009 with higher revenues from ticket sales as well as a rise in the number of cinema-goers from the previous year, data published on the National Film Office's website on Friday showed. Despite the economic crisis and... [read complete entry]
December 17, 2009, 09:40 CET
Hungarian state "wagering" almost Ft 1 billion on horse-racing firms
The State Asset Manager has agreed to provide Ft 840 million in funding in four equal installments to Hungarian horseracing companies. The transfer and use of state money will be overseen under strict guidelines. The key to the future of... [read complete entry]
December 15, 2009, 09:08 CET
Village near Budapest to hold referendum on planned golf course/hotel complex
The Pest County village of Páty (pop.: 6,578) will hold a referendum - likely on February 14, 2010 - about plans by Grupo Milton Management Zrt to build a golf course, thermal hotel, apartments and education center, writes vg.hu. József... [read complete entry]
November 24, 2009, 08:48 CET
Recession hits Hungary's "corporate Christmas" as budgets for gifts and parties slashed
Across Hungary, holiday budgets for company office parties and corporate gifts have been slashed by up to 50%, writes daily Népszabadság. While gift baskets and expensive corporate gifts have been popular in recent years, executives of many multinational firms operating... [read complete entry]
November 05, 2009, 10:18 CET
US firm to open $40 million film production studio in Budapest
Raleigh Studios is building a $40 million film studio complex in Budapest’s 15th District of Rákospalota that is set for completion in April. "This is going to be the finest studio on the continent: it will be truly run like... [read complete entry]
November 04, 2009, 10:18 CET
Budapest gov't to merge sporting facilities into new non-profit holding
Budapest City Hall will merge 14 properties owned by the capital into a holding company called Budapest Sport Non-profit from January 1, 2010. The properties are worth about Ft 10.5 billion and include the athletics centre on Margaret Island and... [read complete entry]
October 30, 2009, 10:37 CET
Hungary to offer €75 million in subsidies for motorcycle races
The Hungarian government on Monday decided on EUR 74.7m in central budget support for the MotoGP motorcycle racing championship in Hungary between 2010 and 2019, the latest issue of official gazette Magyar Kozlony reveals. The government also decided on a... [read complete entry]
October 27, 2009, 09:30 CET
Parliament green lights probe of casino project
Parliament yesterday unanimously passed a draft resolution on establishing a House commission to probe the planned Sukoró casino project. MPs cast 361 affirmative votes for the Fidesz-initiated proposal. It will examine how the National Asset Manager calculated the value of... [read complete entry]
October 12, 2009, 09:33 CET
Cinema attendance rises despite economic crisis
Cinemas in Hungary sold 6.95m tickets in the first eight months of 2009, an increase of 142,000 from the first eight months of 2008, the business daily Napi Gazdasag reported on Friday. Revenue from the ticket sales reached HUF 7.35bn... [read complete entry]
October 12, 2009, 09:29 CET
State signs casino concession contract despite scandal over land swap
The Finance Ministry has signed a concession contract for the operation of a casino on the shores of Lake Velence and it has asked the National Asset Management Company (MNV) to start talks with one of the project's investors on... [read complete entry]
October 02, 2009, 11:02 CET
State said cheated in land swap for casino project
The value of land exchanged by entrepreneur Joav Blum for a site near Lake Velence where he plans to open a casino was overstated by Ft 600 million in the swap contract, a judicial expert told the Central Investigative Prosecutor's... [read complete entry]
September 30, 2009, 10:50 CET
German firm acquires 51% stake in Budapest Film
Germany's A Company has acquired a 51pc stake in Budapest Film, which controls about 10pc of Hungary's film distribution market, Budapest Film told MTI on Monday. Budapest Film plans to continue to release about 25 films a year in Hungarian... [read complete entry]
August 18, 2009, 09:50 CET
Sziget Fesitval profits up 50% despite drop in sponsor payments
Budapest's Sziget Festival, a week-long musical extravaganza on an island in the Danube, generated estimated profits of more than HUF 150m, some 50pc more than in 2008, in spite of a drop in sponsor fees, econet.hu, which owns 26pc of... [read complete entry]
August 11, 2009, 10:22 CET
Sziget Festival aims to replace falling sponsor revenues with higher ticket sales
The Sziget Festival, an annual week-long musical extravaganza on an island in the Danube is expected to cost HUF 2.5bn this year, about the same as in 2008, however, sponsor fees have decreased to HUF 440m in 2009 from HUF... [read complete entry]
August 07, 2009, 11:51 CET
Best Bids (II): Art-shipping firm perfects art of the no-competition tender
While we're on the topic of beautifully ugly public tenders in Hungary, we should mention a real masterpiece that recently came to our attention. Late last month it was announced that a company called Hungart Logistic Kft had won a tender worth Ft 175 million to transport 80 paintings brought in from various art collections for the "Turner and Italy" show at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts. Which works out to just over Ft 2 million (just under €7,500) per picture, or (according to some people we know familiar with the deal) at least five times what it should cost. Unsurprisingly, this year's "Turner prize" was not the first such gilded contract for the firm, and probably will not be the last. [read complete entry]
August 07, 2009, 09:49 CET
Hungarian bookseller Alexandra to start record label
Alexandra will expand its profile by starting a record label, Alexandra Records in September, the retail book chain announced. A six-member team will manage the new venture. "The aim is to plug the gap left by the demise of many... [read complete entry]
July 28, 2009, 12:20 CET
Investors in Hungarian golf courses facing fight for financial survival
Hungarian and foreign investors have invested billions of forints in golf courses in Hungary which now fight for survival, the daily Nepszabadsag said on Tuesday. "Operating a golf-course is indeed a risky business in Hungary," the deputy director of Polus... [read complete entry]
July 24, 2009, 10:15 CET
Hungary's entertainment and media market forecast to shrink 4%
Hungary's entertainment and media-industry market could contract by up to USD 200m (HUF 38.33bn), or 4.4pc, to USD 4.3bn in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis, consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) predicted in a recently published report on the... [read complete entry]
July 20, 2009, 03:29 CET
Cinema revenue, attendance up in Hungary despite economic crisis
Cinemas in Hungary generated ticket-sales revenue of HUF 3.99bn (EUR 14.57m) in the first five months of 2009, up 12pc from the first five months of 2008, while attendance increased 4pc yr/yr to 3.88m during the period, the business daily... [read complete entry]
June 19, 2009, 11:32 CET
Building license for long-delayed "Euro Vegas" project said imminent
Hungarian authorities are expected to issue a building licence for a large development project dubbed Euro Vegas near the Austrian border in north-west Hungary within the next few weeks, business daily Napi Gazdasag reported on Friday. Local council officials in... [read complete entry]
June 03, 2009, 02:50 CET
Budapest conference business almost benefits from global slump
I just ran across a small but telling story that gives a hint of the opportunities and challenges Budapest's crucial convention and conference business faces in the current slump. According to this piece published in Conference and Incentive Travel magazine... [read complete entry]
May 12, 2009, 12:14 CET
MPs in bid to tax basement poker
Now that the government has passed its latest tax amendments - which, among other things, raises the basic VAT rate to an eye-watering 25% - you may be wondering where else they will be looking for revenue. Here's one place:... [read complete entry]
May 12, 2009, 08:38 CET
Crisis slows completion of deal over "Sziget" music festival
Econet subsidiaries Est Media Group, Szigetra Invest and Volt Invest will delay payment of the Ft 1.8 billion purchase price for Sziget Kulturális Menedzser Iroda, as the festival organiser is not expected to meet profit targets this year. The payment,... [read complete entry]
April 23, 2009, 11:47 CET
Hungarian cinema exhibitor says sales picture still good despite recession
Israeli-owned cinema chain Cinema City saw its turnover in Hungary rise 15pc in January-February, business daily Napi Gazdasag reported on Wednesday.... [read complete entry]
January 26, 2009, 03:02 CET
Ernst & Young names Sziget music festival head "Entrepreneur of Year"
Consultancy Ernst and Young named Karoly Gerendai, managing director of Sziget, which organises Hungary's biggest summer music festival, Entrepreneur of the Year at a gala on Sunday evening.... [read complete entry]
November 13, 2008, 08:45 CET
Casinos crap out as "sports associations" game rules to host poker tournaments
Unlicensed poker organizers are operating as sports associations to dodge taxes on tournaments where up to Ft 500,000 (€2,000) change hands on a weekend, writes Inforadio.hu.... [read complete entry]
October 21, 2008, 11:33 CET
Austrian permits to be required for "EuroVegas" complex
A permit from Austrian authorites is likely to be needed before construction of the long-running "Eurovegas" project can go ahead, it has recently been revealed. According to Napi.hu, Austria wishes to participate in the impact assessment procedure related to the... [read complete entry]
September 16, 2008, 02:52 CET
Hungarian performing arts to see jump in state support
Hungarian performing artists organizations support the draft of the performing arts act, László Gyimesi, chief secretary of the Hungarian Musician and Dancers' Union announced, hirextra.hu reported. The Ministry of Culture and Education set aside Ft 4 billion (€16 million) for... [read complete entry]
September 01, 2008, 12:36 CET
Town of Siklós begins work on Ft 2.4 billion water park
The city of Siklos (SW Hungary) laid the cornerstone of a HUF 2.4bn thermal bath and water park on Sunday.... [read complete entry]
August 19, 2008, 09:46 CET
Sziget festival books Ft 100 million in profit
A record 380,000 people visited the Sziget festival between last Monday and Sunday before it closed for another year, organisers announced yesterday. They estimated the net profit from this year’s event at Ft 100 million.... [read complete entry]
August 18, 2008, 12:17 CET
"Moziünnep" organizers looking for new sponsor after Nokia departs
Organizers of the discount movie event "Moziünnep" are looking for a new sponsor after mobile phone company Nokia recently decided not to continue supporting the festival, reports Napi.hu (subscriber only). The four-day event will be held for the fifth time... [read complete entry]
July 23, 2008, 12:48 CET
Big investment in golfing and yachting at Lake Balaton
A several billion forint investment by the company behind the Royal Balaton Golf and Yacht Club will see a massive expansion of facilities on Hungary's largest lake for those interested in golfing and sailing. According to napi.hu, among the projects... [read complete entry]
July 21, 2008, 12:49 CET
Hungarian company to reopen and operate previously closed cinemas
Two previously closed cinemas will be reopened by a Hungarian-owned company, which believes they could continue operating once undergoing a few changes, reports Napi.hu (subscriber only). Nagykanizsa's cinema located at the Kanizsa Plaza mall was closed in March 2007 and... [read complete entry]
July 10, 2008, 11:51 CET
Will there be a Hollywood ending for Hungary's film production industry?
Starting tomorrow, cinemas across America will roll out Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the first major motion picture to be shot primarily at Korda Studios, the recently-completed movie-making complex in Etyek, just outside Budapest. If the film's opening weekend is... [read complete entry]
June 11, 2008, 01:10 CET
Small arena enough for Budapest blockbuster audience
While US cinemas regularly rake in eight-figure dollar sums in a single weekend, "Sex and the City: The Movie" topped the charts in Budapest with revenue of just Ft 46.2 million - in forints - last week. According to Index.hu,... [read complete entry]
May 27, 2008, 11:56 CET
Is Hungary's "Eurovegas" legit, or just a big shell game?
According to ingatlanok.hu, one Hans Asamer is saying that by the end of this month he will submit an application for the building permits necessary to begin work on the long-promised "Eurovegas Hungary" gaming and resort complex near the border... [read complete entry]
March 31, 2008, 12:13 CET
Hungarian horse racing privatization finishes "out of the money"
An effort to sell off two state-owned firms responsible for managing horseracing in Budapest ended in failure. [read complete entry]
January 31, 2008, 08:03 CET
Orco "greenlights" new film studio in Budapest
Developer Orco Investment Kft will soon begin construction on a large film studio in Rákospalota, Dictrict XV, Napi Gazdaság reports. The project has been in the pipeline for some years, but experienced delays as the original location, a Ganz shipyard... [read complete entry]
January 29, 2008, 10:48 CET
Hungarian films bomb at box office in 2007
Despite growing public subsidies for filmmaking in Hungary, the number of tickets sold in the country for domestically-produced movies dropped by roughly 30% in 2007, while the total box office "take" for such films plunged by as much as 50%.... [read complete entry]
December 20, 2007, 08:57 CET
Hungarian "Euro Vegas" folds; state to roll dice on new Budapest mega-casino
Local gamblers who had been looking forward to the much-hyped "Eurovegas" long slated for construction in Western Hungary will be disappointed to hear that the entire project has essentially folded - but thrilled by the prospect of a large new... [read complete entry]
November 28, 2007, 02:11 CET
Organizer of "Sziget" festival bought by media firm
The operator of Hungary's largest music and pop-culture festival - the Sziget ("Island") - has been purchased by listed media firm Econet. The deal is worth a total of nearly Ft 5 billion (€19.6 million), and will take place in... [read complete entry]
November 23, 2007, 10:55 CET
Hungary's first IMAX movie theater to open January 17
Hungary's first 3D IMAX movie theater will open in Budapest's new Arena Plaza mall in January. Both the cinema and the mall have faced delays in construction. [read complete entry]