As of this autumn, opportunities for filmmakers in Moravia are wide open. Apart from the Zlín Region, which recently approved 10 million crowns towards supporting audio-visual production, another fund has arisen in cooperation of the city of Brno and the South Moravian Region, that likewise has a budget of 10 million crowns for 2018.

On the set of the two-part television film Maria Theresa in Valtice | Photo: Czech Television, author: Julie Vrábelová

The establishment of the South Moravian Film Fund was approved by the Brno City Council on 4 October. The funds are primarily intended to motivate filmmakers to choose locations in Brno and the South Moravian Region for shooting a wide variety of audio-visual films, whether feature films, serials or short online series. By selecting these localities, filmmakers will contribute to the promotion of Brno and the wider region, while the shooting itself will help create jobs in the creative industry and boost the local economy.

“In this way, Brno is keeping pace with other cities in the Czech Republic. Film funds with similar budgets already exist in Prague and Zlín. There are also plans to set up another fund in Ostrava,” says Ivana Košuličová, director of the Brno Film Office. “Brno will be profiled as a modern cultural metropolis. We want to build a ‘film-friendly’ region to which filmmakers are happy to return to work with the local institutions and professionals.”

The city established the film office this February. It aims to attract audio-visual productions, represent the region as an attractive destination for film production, and serve filmmakers as a focal point for shooting possibilities. The endowment fund is intended to be a further incentive for them to choose to shoot in the region. The city and the region each will put five million crowns into it.

Ludmila Claussová, from the Czech Film Commission’s national office, commends the latest initiative: “Experience from around the world proves that locally established funds do actually attract filmmakers to regions, and boost regional economies by making use of local services and employing locals during shooting. In practice, this means that regional subsidies are also spent in the given place – filmmakers don’t ‘expatriate’ the money to outside the region.”

Contact for more information: Brno Film Office, c/o Tourist information center of Brno, Ivana Košuličová, kosulicova@ticbrno.cz, tel.: 773 771 556