The Czech Republic has reported the most successful year in terms of foreign productions since the country introduced its incentive programme back in 2010. The nation became a hot production destination for big blockbuster projects earlier this decade and continued to attract a host of international film crews in 2018. The latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Far From Home, follows the titular superhero on a school trip to Europe, taking in Prague. Meanwhile, Marvel Cinematic Universe alumnus Taika Waititi shot his latest film, the anti-war satire Jojo Rabbit [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a US-German co-production, partially at Barrandov Studios and on location at various spots around the Czech Republic. Other noteworthy foreign productions in 2018 include the French biopic Edmond [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alexis Michalik
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fiche film], the sequel to the family-fantasy The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King [+lire aussi :
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interview : Eili Harboe
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“Series accounted for about 65% of total foreign productions in 2018,” says Pavlína Žipková, head of the Czech Film Commission. Foreign TV series crews spent 500 days shooting and made a financial outlay of €125 million last year around the Czech Republic. Among them was Sky’s Das Boot and Amazon’s Carnival Row (see the news), the History Channel’s Knightfall, the BBC’s World on Fire, ABC’s Whisky Cavalier and the new Norwegian-German series Atlantic Crossing, as well as two supernatural series: Lore for Amazon and Haunted for Netflix. Various domestic professionals were tapped to work on the series Haunted for the American streaming giant, including Jan Pavlacký in the director’s chair, Marek Dvořák behind the camera and production designer Josef Čechota, as well as individuals in other creative roles.

The Czech Republic hosted 40 foreign films and television series last year, which spent 1,000 days in Czech studios and on location in the country, with a total outlay of €195 million. The Czech Film Fund offers cash rebates for television and film projects, including all post-production work. A 20% rebate applies to qualifying Czech spending, while this figure reaches up to 10% on qualifying international spending. There is also a 66% rebate on withholding tax paid in the country.