Location Tours: What do they offer to film professionals?

The Czech Film Commission organizes several location tours each year in cooperation with regional film offices. Their purpose is to introduce film professionals to previously undiscovered locations throughout the Czech Republic. These are locations where the local authorities and owners are open to filming and willing to agree on conditions that will allow the filmmakers to work or where film crews can set up facilities. The one- or two-day location tours are designed for Czech filmmakers in various professions.

Screenwriter

• gets to know new places during the tours, meets the often fascinating owners of the locations, and learns their unique stories
• draws inspiration for new ideas and themes in which they can use their knowledge of the place and write with the specific location in mind
• makes contacts with other participants/filmmakers, gets to know directors and producers
• gets the latest information on regional support for audiovisual works in the script development stage

Cinematographer

• draws visual inspiration
• learns about new places, orients themselves in locations, and explores the possibilities for the best shots
• networks with other filmmakers, production designers, and directors

Production Designer

• gains new creative impulses
• learns about regional architectural styles
• broadens their understanding of the possibilities of various motifs and film locations
• makes contacts with other filmmakers, directors, and producers

Director:

• draws fresh inspiration, both visually and thematically
• gets to know the distinctive places and stories of the regions
• makes contacts with other filmmakers, writers, producers

Documentary filmmaker

• meets interesting personalities and gets a glimpse into their life stories - ones that are worth telling
• has the opportunity to get to know them in the environment that has shaped them in a certain way, where they live
• and in a place which is positively inclined towards film crews
• establishes working contacts with other filmmakers and representatives of regional film offices

Producer

• broadens their understanding of the practical possibilities of filming in individual regions
• establishes contacts and cooperation with regional film office representatives
• learns more about the latest information on regional support for film projects
• meets the owners of individual locations in person and verifies the specific conditions for filming on that location
• gets to know other filmmakers, directors, screenwriters

Location Manager

• expands their database of locations, takes photographs
• finds out the conditions of filming on individual locations
• gets to know the owners of the locations
• establishes contact and cooperation with representatives of regional film offices
• meets other filmmakers, producers, production designers, directors

Working with regional film offices

Film office representatives can discover locations that surprise filmmakers thanks to their detailed knowledge of the region and local contacts. Often owners contact them directly and offer locations for filming. Regional film offices thus have access to information that filmmakers cannot access on their own.

Location tours are an excellent opportunity for filmmakers to get to know film office representatives and establish a working relationship with these sources of invaluable information. Representatives can make filmmakers’ work much more manageable. A location tour is often the first step to further scouting for a specific film project.

Jana Arora of the Czech Film Commission's national film office sums it up as an opportunity to “forge personal connections between regional film commissioners and filmmakers, build contacts, and expand the range of locations in the regions.”

Filming in the regions - supporting the local economy

Location tours aim to bring film crews to regions of the Czech Republic, where they use local suppliers and services, including renting locations (whether owned by regions, cities or municipalities, or privately), thus significantly supporting the local economy.

These include various craftspeople, transport, security, maintenance, cleaning, rental of waste containers, drinking water tanks, purchase of small materials, accommodation, and restaurant and catering services. Additionally, filmmakers often repair and improve some locations for filming purposes, leaving them in better condition for the owners or residents than before filming.

Another benefit, depending on the success of individual film and TV series projects, is the increase in tourism, another source of significant funds for the local economy.

The mission of regional film offices is to attract audiovisual projects to their regions and to be a reliable source of information for Czech producers.

One of the main tools to draw filmmakers' attention to the region's film-friendly locations is the location tour, which is organized for Czech film professionals, from producers and location managers to directors, writers, cinematographers and film architects, by the regional film office in cooperation with the Czech Film Commission.

A representative of the regional film office connects filmmakers with property managers and owners. A location tour is often the first step towards further inspections for a specific audiovisual work in pre-production.

A photographer specializing in architecture, landscape, and location photography is on hand on the location tour. The resulting photographs are then used to promote the film-friendly locations both by the regional film office and the Czech Film Commission for promotional activities aimed at foreign filmmakers and are actively offered when specific requests from abroad are received.