Following Prague’s lead, the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic has earmarked substantial funds in support of audiovisual productions here. The newly approved Program for Audiovisual Support in the Zlín Region has an annual budget of EUR 383,000 (CZK 10m), and while the Prague Film Fund focusses on productions with potential to promote the city abroad, and is funded by the capital’s tourism department, the Zlín grant program is under the auspices of the Culture and Monument Care Department of the Zlin Region.

The Zlín Region’s local film industry can trace its roots back to the 1930s, when world-renowned businessman Tomáš Baťa founded a film studio here. Located in the very east of the Czech Republic, this region features unique modern and constructivist architecture, as well as a variety of Baroque buildings and monuments and a picturesque countryside.

Since 2016, the Region also has its own film office which, supported by the regional government and other local institutions, has with great gusto striven to revive the regional film industry. The main aim is to raise the region’s profile, attract filmmakers, and thereby provide new jobs in traditional crafts and increase opportunities for graduates of the Zlín Film School.

Financial support from the Zlín grant program aims to help realize the production of feature, animated and documentary films, as well as serials, for distribution in cinemas and for broadcast. The maximum grant per project is EUR 76,600 (CZK 2m). “The expert committee will take into account the quality, significance and likelihood of the project being finished, i.e. its organizational and financial security, but also the marketing potential and benefits it could bring to the region,” explains Magdaléna Hladká of the Zlín Film Office.

“Attracting audiovisual business to the region and thereby boosting the local economy is the task of film commissions and offices around the world. The Zlín Region is a few hours’ drive from Prague, a minor disadvantage that this financial support – along with the region’s amazing and varied locations – more than make up for,” says Ludmila Claussová of the Czech Film Commission, commenting on the approval of the EUR 383,000 grant program.

For more information, contact: Zlín Film Office, Magdaléna Hladká, magdalena@zlin-film.cz, tel.:778 515 500