The Czech audiovisual industry has stabilised, according to the Association of Producers in Audiovisual (APA), with turnover of CZK 13.5 billion in 2023, down 12% from the record year of 2022. The main reason for this is the drop in foreign production. Although original Czech production rose to a record CZK 2.1 billion, 60% of which is for TV and VOD. However, this was not enough to make up for the lower turnover of foreign orders, which amounted to 9.2 billion in 2023, a drop of 18% compared to 2022. This is the result of a year-long suspension of incentive registrations due to congestion in the system, in addition to a strike by screenwriters and actors in the US that led to the suspension of a number of film and TV projects.
"While the strike was an isolated and external phenomenon, the overload of the incentive system was a problem caused by the long unresolved setup of the rules of the State Fund of Cinematography (SFKMG). Although the incentive system historically had the most funds, the high demand for filming in the Czech Republic overloaded and blocked the system. Thanks to APA's appeal and an agreement with the government and the SFKMG, it was fortunate to push through a mini-amendment to the audiovisual law that simplified the system and reopened the incentives on 3 January 2024. The Czech Republic is now 'open' again and foreign productions have started to return," says APA President Vratislav Šlajer.
Source: APA
Source: APACzech production is driven by series
Turnover of original Czech productions increased by 24% year-on-year. Following the global trend, TV and VOD productions have a major share of original productions. Out of a total turnover of 2.1 billion, TV production accounted for 1.2 billion, original VOD production 92 million and the turnover of original productions for cinemas was 853 million.
The representation of local content on Czech TV stations and VOD is growing, with Czech series making up half of the total viewership of all series. Both public service and commercial TV stations cannot do without domestic productions across all genres and formats, and this also applies to pay TV. The era of streaming services favours Czech TV and VOD production. The Czech Voyo platform reports 850,000 subscribers, Czech films regularly appear in Netflix' s top 10 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Czech TV series routinely reach million-dollar ratings.
Prague is an expensive location
The advertising sector, which contributes as significantly to the total turnover of the audiovisual industry as Czech film series production, is stabilising after the crash and is growing overall, although with a turnover of CZK 2.14 billion it recorded a slight decline of CZK 300 million compared to the previous year. Filmmakers attribute this decline to the fact that Prague is already an expensive destination for foreign productions, and increasingly small service commissions in particular are moving to fast-growing smaller countries such as Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, which offer lower prices and have quickly replaced the formerly cheaper Ukraine, whose shortfall brought some commissions back to the Czech Republic. The decline in advertising turnover is 13% year-on-year.
Interest in regions is increasing
Since the APA created a dedicated manager for the regions, regions have reported an increasing number of subsidy programmes and the highest ever allocation to support audiovisual. There has also been record growth in interest in shooting in attractive locations outside of Prague for domestic film productions. Czech filmmakers spent a record CZK 100 million in the regions in 2023. The growing interest of producers of Czech films and series in locations in various parts of the Czech Republic is a response to the emergence of new grant programmes and film offices financed by regions or individual cities.
Source: mediaguru.cz
