Prague will increase the price of rentals for filming in public spaces
Updates: 01/24/2022 13:46
Released: 24.01.2022, 12:34
Prague – From next year, the Prague City Hall will increase the rent it charges filmmakers for filming in public spaces. Rents will double on Old Town and Wenceslas Square and on Charles Bridge. For filming in other locations, the price will increase for occupations over 300 square meters, in the monument reserve from ten to 15 crowns and in the rest of the metropolis from five to 7.5 crowns per square meter per day. Magdaléna Králová, the director of the Association of Audiovisual Producers, appreciated that the city had withdrawn from the original plan to double the prices across the board and gave the filmmakers time to prepare for the change.
In the Old Town Square, filmmakers have so far paid 90,000 crowns according to the rules approved in 2003 for the beginning of the filming day, next year it will be doubled. Similarly, on Wenceslas Square, the rate will double from 50 to 100 crowns per meter per day, for parking spaces for filming in houses on the town square will increase from ten to 20 crowns per meter of area.
On Charles Bridge, filming now costs a standard tax for a monument reservation in the amount of ten crowns per meter per day, for which the filmmakers pay Prague 1 a flat fee of 250,000 crowns per day. From next year, the city management set the price at 250,000 crowns per day, for which the fee of the city district will be maintained. Companies will pay a total of half a million crowns for the day of filming, another 100 crowns per meter and the day will pay extra for occupations for preparatory and clearing work.
In the rest of the metropolis, prices will rise by only for occupations over 300 square meters, for smaller ones, the current value is ten crowns per meter per day in the monument reserve and five crowns outside it. In the case of filming documents with a moving occupation of up to five square meters, the price in the whole of Prague will be CZK 2,000 per meter per day. In addition to the above rates, the filmmakers also pay regular fees for the use of public space.
City councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09) said after the councilors’ meeting that prices have not changed since 2003, and even though the city respects the staffs, it is time for a revision. According to him, the municipality negotiated with the Association of Audiovisual Producers, which suited the city to set up several places with connection to electricity sources, so that the staffs would not have to use diesel generators to such an extent.
The king confirmed that they had approached the magistrate’s association and that one was being raised at a price. According to her, the original proposal provided for a doubling of rents, but in the end the solution was negotiated and a more significant increase will occur only in the most exposed localities. She also appreciated the fact that the increase will not take effect until next year and the industry will be able to prepare for them. At the same time, the director stated that the filming was of great benefit to the metropolis. “As much as 60 percent of the cost of producing audiovisual works is not purely cinematic, including renting hotels and using the services of restaurants, transport and small craftsmen,” she said.
The Czech capital is popular with foreign filmmakers. Last year, the film The Gray Man, produced by Netflix, was shot in various locations in the city center, which brought a number of deadlines and traffic restrictions. Actor Adam Sandler also appeared in Prague, who made a feature film on Netflix based on the book Spaceman of Bohemia. Last year, the historical film Chevalier, the Amazon Prime Hunters series was also shot in the metropolis, and Orlando Bloom also returned to Prague to shoot the second series of the Carnival Row series produced by Amazon. Earlier, for example, the action thriller Mission: Impossible and Bourne’s Identity, the comic book Hellboy or the Bond film Casino Royale were shot in Prague.
The interest of foreign staffs in Czech services or locations is great in that the Czech Republic provides an incentive, which is one of the lowest in Europe, only 20 percent. Nevertheless, film incentives bring the country billions of crowns a year; last year, according to previous estimates by the State Cinematography Fund, it could be approximately 7.5 billion crowns.
This year, the payment of incentives is complicated by the provisional budget. As a result, the Cinematographic Fund suspended the receipt of applications for registration of film incentives. According to the Ministry of Finance, the provisional period should last until the end of March.