“Numerous international productions are choosing the Czech Republic particularly for period films and TV series set in various periods, ranging from ancient history to the 20th century. I believe it is thanks to the variety of great locations the Czech Republic offers, but to some extent also thanks to highly experienced and creative local artisans – from production and costume designers to the props and set construction crews”, says Ludmila Claussová from the Czech Film Commission. “TV series like The Musketeers and Borgia, feature films like Marguerite, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Anthropoid and the recently finished Interlude in Prague, which centres on Mozart’s creation of Don Giovanni, are just a few of the recent productions that have benefitted from this great professional background”, she adds.

The first big shoot that started at Czech locations this summer is the eight-part UK television series Britannia, set during the time of the Roman invasion of the territory that would eventually become Great Britain. One of the producers is Rick McCallum (Star Wars) from Prague-based Film United. Written by Martha Little and directed by Kari Skogland (Vikings, House of Cards), the series is slated for broadcast on the Sky channel. Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes, Flight) plays the key character of Kerra.

The filming of US television drama series Knightfall for the History Channel started in July at various Czech locations and on the sound stages and backlot of Barrandov Studio. The series chronicles the events that led up to the persecution and downfall of the Knights Templar. Prague-based Stillking Films (Underworld: Blood Wars, Legends, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Casino Royale) will be responsible for the Czech leg of the shoot.

The third important TV production is for the National Geographic Channel. Genius, NatGeo’s first-ever scripted series, is an anthology of the world’s most brilliant innovators. The first season of the series will focus on Albert Einstein. Noah Pink is adapting Walter Isaacson’s biography of the famed scientist, and Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code, Rush) will direct. Stillking Films, Fox 21 Television Studios, Imagine Television, OddLot Entertainment and EUE/Sokolow are the producers. The broadcast is planned for the spring of 2017 in 171 countries and 45 languages.

Filming in the Czech Republic has numerous advantages. It considerably saves on production costs thanks to the country’s position in the heart of Europe, which makes travel arrangements and location moves really simple. The country also has an incredible variety of locations for a comparably small territory. Historical Czech architecture makes it possible for Prague to double as Paris, London or nearly any other European city. Highly experienced local crews have worked on countless international productions and offer outstanding expertise and production value.

To a large extent, the current international production boom is also a result of the well-functioning incentive scheme in the Czech Republic. The incentive represents 20% cash rebate on Czech expenditure and 10% on international cast and crew. Since its introduction in 2010, international expenditure on film productions in the Czech Republic has increased almost fivefold, and the state funds reserved for production incentives were recently increased to 33 million USD per year.

Luckily for the industry, the current Czech government provides significant support to this development. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is personally involved in the promotion of international filmmaking in the Czech Republic. He sees it as “an opportunity to employ a lot of local people from various professions, and to increase awareness about the country and attract tourists to the Czech Republic”. This spring, Sobotka visited Los Angeles to meet the representatives of big Hollywood studios and promote the Czech Republic as an attractive and advantage-rich film location.

Things are really moving on all sides. The recently adopted changes to the incentive scheme contained in the amendment to the audiovisual law coming into effect 1 January 2017 will surely strengthen the positive trend even further. “The most important changes make the system of film incentives smoother and more flexible. In contrast to the previous system, allocations of rebates will be possible at any time of the year but not sooner than three months before the start of filming in the Czech Republic and not later than the first day of shooting. Two applications for payments will be possible: the first after filming is concluded in the Czech Republic; the second, after all production and post-production is completed in the Czech Republic”, says Ludmila Claussová. “The debates with our government will continue this fall. One of the important topics is the increase of the rebate from the current 20% on Czech spend to 25%”, adds Claussová. Another great outcome of the boom of the international production in the Czech Republic is that the respected trade magazine Variety dedicated a large space to the Czech Republic in one of its summer issues (21 June 2016), introducing various areas of filmmaking in the Czech Republic to its readers, which is great promotion for the country’s film industry.

“It is the third Billion Dollar Location report we’ve created in the past two years, following [the US states of] New Mexico and Louisiana. This means this is the first international filmmaking location featured in our popular Billion Dollar series of reports”, said Steven Gaydos, Vice President and Executive Editor of Variety. “As a lifelong fan of Czech cinema, I know the roots of the incredible Czech filmmaking culture that have been the foundation of the current success story”, added Gaydos, who personally supervised the issue.