Three quarters of audiovisual productions in the Czech Republic were stopped in early March due to the onset of coronavirus. These included large scale productions such as Marvel’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, the country was one of the first European countries to reopen to productions in early May under new self-regulatory guidelines published and updated by the Czech Film Commission. Commercial productions were amongst the first to begin shooting again and have been testing the waters for larger scale shoots to resume. The guidelines published by the Czech Film Commission allow actors and performers to be exempt from wearing a mask when shooting and permit on location shooting.
In 2019 the Czech Republic saw a rise in production incentives applications an in shooting days of international productions compared to previous years. A number of incoming projects were significant shoots including the second series of Amazon’s Carnival Row, Netflix family film A Boy Called Christmas and the second season of Sky Atlantic’s Das Boot.
The first series of Victorian fantasy drama Carnival Row filmed over a hundred days in the Czech Republic spending over CZK 1.7 billion (EUR 68.5 million). Based at Barrandov Studios in Prague and Liberec’s rock formations to the north of the country feature in both series.
The Czech Republic provides a 20% cash rebate on qualifying Czech spending. There is up to 10% rebate on qualifying international spend calculated as a 66% rebate on withholding tax paid in the Czech Republic. Eligible projects are feature films, documentaries, animation and TV shows. There is no per-project cap or sunset date.
We shot at a real castle located in Tocnik, Czech Republic, 50 minutes away from Prague. We were looking for a location to shoot an epic film, with great production value and including all the props and wardrobe we needed to achieve everything in the most cost-effective way. We researched several countries and cities, and Prague was the best option.
Mariana Fiordelice and Mariano Avellaneda, Producers for Rebolucion
The Czech Republic has four distinct seasons, with heavy winter snowfall in the mountains and pleasantly hot summers. Temperatures and precipitation can vary greatly from location to location, depending on elevation.
Summer temperatures average around 25C but temperatures over 30C are not rare. Winter temperatures hover at or just above freezing. June is the wettest month with 67.6 mm of rainfall and February is the driest.
On the longest day of the year, June 21, there are producers assemble a team of the best available professionals.
