Film and TV Production in Czech Republic Can Resume Immediately

The film commission in the Czech Republic announced Thursday that film and TV shoots can resume production immediately in Prague now that the government has lifted restrictions and provided safety guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“Three-quarters of audiovisual productions in the Czech Republic stopped in March. In full compliance with the Ministry of Health, filmmakers are no longer affected by measures restricting cultural and sporting events and large gatherings. We, therefore, consider audiovisual production to be resumed,” Helena Bezděk Fraňková, director of the Czech Film Fund, said in a statement.

The Czech Republic was the first country in Europe to develop self-regulatory guidelines as protection against the spread of COVID-19 during filming.

“Adherence to these recommendations, including testing actors every 14 days during production and, of course, maintaining sanitation standards on location and in studios, will reduce the possibility of infection to an absolute minimum,” Czech film commissioner Pavlina Žipková said.

Shows such as Marvel’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” were shooting in the country before production was shuttered there. And Amazon also had productions prepped for the latest season of “Carnival Row” with Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne and the first season of “Wheel of Time” starring Rosamund Pike. Other productions include the Netflix film “473 Transatlantic.”

Among the guidelines that the film commission laid out for individual shoots included access to testing, use of a sanitary base camp, eating lunch in shifts (more commonly known as “French hours”), taking temperatures of people on set, and providing protective gear and sanitizing equipment.

Foreign actors and crew members must have undergone a COVID-19 test at the time they leave their home countries and will undergo a second test within 72 hours of arrival in the Czech Republic, and remain quarantined until they receive a negative result. In this way, they can avoid undergoing a 14-day quarantine upon arrival.