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The Czech Audiovisual Producers’ Association (APA) is pushing for a bigger slice of the cake. They want to increase the audiovisual incentives from the current 20% to 25%. It’s all about staying competitive and attracting global productions to their home turf.
Audiovisual Industry’s Current Scenario
The Czech Republic’s audiovisual industry raised a cool £450 million ($580 million, CZK 13.5 billion) in 2023. Still, that represented a 12% drop from the spike they received in 2022. The APA blame this downward trend on the reduced international production, which saw earnings shrink by 18% to £310 million ($390 million, CZK 9.2 billion).
It gets tricky because incentives applications were on hold for a year due to system overload. Add to that a strike by U.S. writers and actors and you can see why the production dropped. But don’t fret, the incentive system got back on track at the start of 2024.
APA chairman, Vratislav Šlajer, made it clear that the Czech Republic is now open for business. Foreign productions are already making their comebacks.
Competing in Europe
The APA made it a point to compare their rates with other European countries. With Slovakia offering a whopping 33%, and countries like Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Spain providing 30%, the 20% the Czech Republic offers seem a little skinny.
Call for Funding Reforms
The APA are not ones to sit on their hands. They’ve appealed to the Czech Culture Minister, Martin Baxa, to up the incentive to 25%. It’s part of the proposed changes to the Audiovisual Act.
The Audiovisual Act Changes
These changes will transform the Czech Film Fund into the Czech Audiovisual Fund. This opens the door for more support to TV and VOD productions. It will also give a leg up to the gaming industry and make the film incentive system better.
Cinemas, broadcasters, and VOD platforms are in for a 2% cut of their profits. This money will go to the Audiovisual Fund. Before this, foreign VOD platforms like Netflix and Disney+ weren’t chipping in while cinemas forked over just 1% and Czech VOD platforms 0.5%. VOD platforms will now have to reinvest at least 1.5% of their profits from the Czech Republic in local content.
The new act will tweak the film incentive system’s funding, tying the annual budget to how the Czech audiovisual industry is doing financially.
The Czech government gave the thumbs up to the changes in June. Now, the ball is in the Czech Parliament’s court. The APA is keen that the amended Audiovisual Act gets approved by the end of 2024, so that it takes effect from January 2025.
Recent Productions in the Republic
The Czech Republic has already played host to several big-ticket productions. Apple TV+ chose this scenic country for their sci-fi series “Foundation: Emperor’s War.” Amazon’s “Wheel of Time,” Lionsgate’s “Ballerina” with Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves, and Robert Eggers’ remake of “Nosferatu” for NBC Universal also shot here. Let’s not forget Thomas Vinterberg’s series “Families Like Ours.” Oh, and Amazon Prime Video’s “Blade Runner 2099” has just fired up the cameras in the country.
To sum it all up, the Czech Republic is ready and raring to go. With the government and the APA working towards providing better incentives and supporting more avenues, this could well become the next big thing in the global audiovisual market. Time will tell if these changes do enough to lure international production houses.
For more details, visit Project Casting Blog on https://www.projectcasting.com/blog/casting-calls-acting-auditions/czech-film-industry-calls-for-increase-in-production-incentives-to-25/