Filming in Morocco: what a foreign production needs to know

Morocco has hosted international productions for decades, and it shows: crews are experienced, suppliers understand foreign standards, and the logistics work. Costs remain well below European equivalents at comparable quality.

Two administrative points, however, catch out almost every production arriving for the first time.

Point 1: the filming permit is not optional

Any footage intended for release — feature, commercial, music video, documentary, branded content, even a short social cut — requires authorisation from the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (CCM).

It is applied for in advance, with the script or treatment, the location list, the schedule and the crew list. It is not a formality you regularise afterwards, and shooting without it exposes the production and its local partners.

Point 2: drones are a separate regime

This is what foreign productions get wrong most often. Recreational flying is banned in Morocco, importing a drone requires prior authorisation that is rarely granted, and aircraft are routinely seized at customs.

Professional flight remains possible under authorisation, but the file is assessed at the level of the relevant prefecture and generally takes 10 to 20 working days — longer for night flying, a sensitive zone or a crowd.

Practical conclusion: do not bring your drone. Work with a local operator who is already compliant. Full detail in our dedicated article.

What the country genuinely offers

Location variety over short distances. Atlantic coast, the Atlas mountains, desert, medinas, colonial architecture, contemporary cities. Covering three very different visual worlds in one week is routine.

An established services industry. Ouarzazate and its studios have hosted international production for a long time; there are local crews fluent in foreign working methods.

Long light. The south delivers consistently bright days for much of the year, which reduces weather days lost.

Financial incentives. Morocco operates a scheme rebating part of eligible spend incurred locally. Conditions and rates change — verify the current position with the CCM before building it into a budget, rather than trusting a figure found online.

Logistics in practice

• Seasons. Spring and autumn are the best windows. Summer forces split days inland. Winter is very shootable on the coast and in the south.
• Equipment. Camera, optics, grip and lighting are all available locally. Bringing kit in means a temporary customs procedure to plan for.
• Languages. Shoots run routinely in French, English and Arabic. It is rarely an obstacle.
• Distances. Calculate them in driving hours, not kilometres. Two cities close on a map can be half a day of unit move apart.

What we do for foreign productions

We work as the local team: recces, permit files, shooting, authorised aerial, and post-production on the ground if you want it there.

We ran production on a live feed from Casablanca and Agadir, cut into a worldwide broadcast alongside Los Angeles and Paris, over crowds of more than thirty-five thousand people, at night — with the corresponding authorisations.

We work in French, English and Arabic.

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Write to us with your dates and intended locations. We will tell you in the first reply whether the administrative calendar is workable — it is almost always the deciding constraint.