Czechs Offer Incentives to Film

Australia isn’t the only country trying to draw attention to their locale as a prime film location.

The Czech government has recently announced they’ll refund filmmakers 20% of the expenses for filming in the Czech Republic.

Once a hot spot for shooting foreign films, the Czech Republic has consistently declined in the number of foreign shoots brought in since the 1990s. The incentive is expected to bring the Czech Republic, especially Prague, back to being a high-interest filming location.

The incentive has yet to be officially passed by the Czech Parliament, but has already been written into the next year’s budget, showing that there’s definite support for the plan.

Aside from getting the go-ahead from the Czech government, the incentive will also have to face approval from the European Commission. The incentive should be easily passed by the Commission, as similar plans have already been set forth for Hungary, Germany, and France, among others.

The head of the Czech Film Commission believes the incentive will not only bring global attention back to the Czech Republic, but will also see a revival of production at the local level, as well as create thousands of jobs.

In addition to the basic 20% refund incentive, the Culture Ministry has also proposed to set up $23 million in funds for production companies (given on a first-come-first-served basis) who not only shoot in the Czech Republic, but also meet criteria of a “culture point” scale based on make-up of crews, script and production involvement with local partners.