▶ WatchAdidas
Stan Smith × Edison Chen
2025 · Nice & Monaco
Executive production on the Riviera, with crew, equipment, talent management and locations.
Filming in Nice
Nice is the Riviera's biggest city, forty minutes from our Cannes base, with its own film office, its own studios and a light-crew lane that clears in days. It also sits next to an international airport and runs its own roads. Here is how a Nice shoot actually clears.
01
Nice has its own desk
And it is quick when you are lightThe City of Nice runs a film office (the Bureau d'accueil et de promotion des tournages) that is empowered to issue filming authorisations on the city's public space. Requests go through the city's online platform, where you create an account and file; the office then runs a feasibility review and coordinates the city's technical departments around your schedule. For productions from outside the region, the Côte d'Azur Film Commission at the Nice chamber of commerce adds free help with locations, English-speaking crew and suppliers.
We are a production service company working across France from Paris and Cannes. Nice is covered from our Riviera base: Zacharie runs the unit from Cannes, with crew who live on the coast, and Élie structures and files the permits. One French partner, whether you are in Nice for a day or moving between Nice, Antibes and Monaco for a week.
02
Who issues what in Nice
From the city's published guidance and our files, indicativeSituationAuthorityLead time
Light crew, no special set-upHandheld, small teamCity film office, "ambulatory" authorisation after review of the file3 working days minimum
Special set-upsEquipment, closures, parking, effectsCity film office, with a coordination meeting with every city department involvedMeeting at least 1 month before the shoot
Roads around NiceCorniches and hill roads in the metropolitan areaThe Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, which took over the former departmental roads on its territory3 to 5 weeks
Beaches and seaThe bay, filming from the waterMaritime authorities and the commune, mapped per location4 to 8 weeks
Heritage sites and museumsPalaces, villas, museumsTheir own operators4 to 10 weeks
DroneAny flightDGAC and the prefecture, always separate. The airport on the city's edge shapes what clears3 to 6 weeks
StudiosStudios de la VictorineBooked through the same city platformPer availability
In Nice, the road may not be the Département's
On most of the Riviera, a corniche outside town limits is a departmental road with its own desk at the Département. Around Nice it often is not: when the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur was created, the departmental roads on its territory became metropolitan roads, run by the Métropole. File the road with the Département and you have filed with the wrong desk. We check the owner of every stretch of a travelling shot before we file, and the answer changes as you drive west towards Cannes or east towards Menton.
03
La Victorine
Studios inside the cityThe Studios de la Victorine, the city's historic film studios, are back in use and booked through the same city platform as the streets. The city lists ten stages from 300 m² to 1,175 m², 2,500 m² of soundproofed space, dressing rooms, production offices, costume workshops, a 1,000 m² carpentry workshop and a paint shop.
For a foreign production, that changes the shape of a Riviera shoot. A car commercial or a fashion film can combine location days on the coast with a stage day in Nice, with the same crew and no transfer to a studio elsewhere in France. Ask us for availability against your dates.
Parking is not free. The city lets technical vehicles park near the chosen sites within the highway code, but in metered zones the production pays the meters for the time the spaces are used. Every request also needs a civil liability insurance certificate. Both go in the budget and the filing pack.
04
The Nice calendar
Seasonal notesFebruaryCarnival season, usually, with the city centre and the Promenade busy for events.
MayThe Cannes Film Festival, usually mid-May, books crew, vehicles and rooms along the whole coast, Nice included. See filming at the Cannes Film Festival.
JuneCannes Lions, usually in June. The forest massifs inland enter fire-risk season.
July and AugustPeak summer: beaches full, traffic heavy, prices high.
October to AprilOff season. Usually the easiest period for permits, crew and accommodation.
05
What we ran around Nice
Selected2025Adidas × Edison ChenStan Smith campaignExecutive production on the Riviera, in Nice and Monaco, during the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix, talent George Russell.Wrapped
2026Riviera permit packageClient under NDACoastal travelling shots across sixteen communes, drone and heritage at two stops. €29,900 down to €12,900.Wrapped
Most of what shoots in Nice is commercials and branded content: automotive on the corniches (see car commercials in France), fashion and jewellery in villas and on the Promenade, travel and lifestyle on the water. For anything airborne, read drone filming permits in France first.
06
Selected work
Verified credits▶ WatchVanity Fair
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's War of the Rosé
2023 · Nice & Avignon
Research, booking and translation for the investigation into the Miraval dispute.
Read ↗NBC News
Wildfires across southern France
2016 · Provence
Rapid deployment to the fire zone, safe access, interviews with residents and coordination with authorities and firefighters.
Read ↗How do you get a filming permit in Nice?
Through the City of Nice film office, which issues authorisations on the city's public space via its online platform. A light crew with no special set-up can receive an authorisation after review of the file, with a minimum lead time of 3 working days. Shoots with special set-ups go through a coordination meeting with the city's departments at least a month before shooting.
Who handles road closures around Nice?
It depends on the road. Inside town, the city. Outside town but within the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, many former departmental roads are now metropolitan roads, run by the Métropole. Further along the coast, the Département. Motorways are run by the concession company. We map every stretch before filing.
Can we use the Victorine studios in Nice?
Yes, subject to availability. The city lists ten stages from 300 m² to 1,175 m², with soundproofed space, workshops, dressing rooms and production offices, booked through the same city platform as street permits. It lets a Riviera production combine location and stage days with one crew.
Can we fly a drone in Nice?
Only with its own authorisation from the DGAC and the prefecture, separate from the city permit. Nice's international airport sits on the edge of the city, which restricts much of the airspace along the coast. We check each flight path before promising a shot.
Do you have crew in Nice?
Yes. We hire Riviera crew who live between Marseille and Menton, run from our Cannes base about forty minutes away. For productions travelling from Paris, Zacharie comes down with the unit so one person runs both legs.
Shooting in Nice?
Send your dates, the locations and the size of your crew. We tell you whether the light-crew lane applies, from our Cannes base forty minutes away.
Or email [email protected]. We reply within 3 hours.