the incentive
The Czech Film Industry Support Programme, effective as of 21 June 2010, offers a 20% rebate on qualifying Czech spend and 10% on qualifying international spend. Costs which qualify as Czech spend are goods and services provided in the Czech Republic and paid to companies or individuals registered to pay income tax in the Czech Republic. Costs paid to individuals who pay withholding tax in the Czech Republic but are not registered to pay income tax may qualify as international spend.
Eligible spend may not exceed 80% of a project's total budget. Eligible costs are those connected exclusively to the project and do not include purchase and depreciation of assets, costs associated with the development of storyline, expenses related to intellectual property rights, financing expenses, distribution and marketing, per diem of foreign crew, customs duties or VAT.
The rebate is available to feature, TV, animation and documentary films with a runtime of at least 70 minute and to TV episodes with a runtime of at least 40 minutes per episode.
The support programme has CZK 300m (approximately $16m) available to disburse in 2011. Grants are awarded to qualifying projects on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no cap on the amount of grant per project. Rebates are issued at the end of production upon submission of audited statements of costs incurred and paid out in the form of cash grants.
how to qualify and apply
To qualify for the rebate, projects must pass a cultural test for European cultural and production criteria, achieving at least 4 points for cultural criteria and 23 points overall out of a possible total of 46. All point allocations shall be reviewed by the Ministry of Culture’s Programme Council.
The cultural test and interpretation of the different criteria is available here.
Projects must achieve a minimum spend of CZK 15m (approximately $820,000) for theatrical features and TV films, CZK 3m (approximately $165,000) for theatrical documentaries, and CZK 10m (approximately $550,000) for each TV episode.
The application process consists of three steps: 1) The project must pass the cultural test; responses will be issued within 30 days. 2) The applicant must submit the project's budget and other financial information; responses, including the approved amount of the grant, will be issued within 30 days. 3) The applicant must submit audited statements demonstrating the eligible costs incurred; responses will be issued within 30 days; grants will be paid within a further 14 days.
Only registered Czech income tax payers with a place of business in the Czech Republic may apply for the FISP at the final stage. International producers may partner with a Czech co-producer (which becomes the applicant) or establish and apply through a Czech subsidiary.
The FISP is administrated by the Ministry of Culture, Media and Audio-Visual Department. Further information and application forms are available at www.ppfpen.cz.
Producers interested in more information about shooting in the Czech Republic should contact Ludmila Claussova at the Czech Film Commission on +420 724 329 956 or by email at .
