The cast and crew of the U.S. will be able to travel to the Czech Republic and Hungary to work in film and television productions, despite the European Union ban on U.S. travelers, the heads of the national film commissions said. of those countries.
“Let me assure you that this (travel ban) is not valid for economic workers but only for tourism travelers. Filmmakers from all nations are welcome in the Czech Republic,” said Pavlína Zipkova, director of the Czech Film Commission, to Hollywood executives and studios. in a letter seen by CNN.
Zipkova explained that the filmmakers will receive two documents: a “Confirmation of the performance of economic activities in the interest of the Czech Republic”, signed by the Czech Minister of Culture, Lubomir Zaoralek, and a “Declaration on the arrival of a foreign member of the crew “director of the Czech Film Fund, Helena Bezdek Frankova.
In a similar move, Hungarian film commissioner Csaba Káel told CNN that “a special exemption can be granted for non-EU residents to enter Hungary without mandatory quarantine.”
Some background: The EU has released a list of 14 non-union countries whose citizens can enter starting July 1 based on a set of health criteria, but the US was excluded from that list due to increased infections by coronavirus in some parts of the country.
The criterion allows exemptions for “highly skilled” essential workers and can be expanded to include other categories of travelers. The final decision on who can enter a country rests with the member state.
In 2019, over 80 films and television series were made in the Czech Republic, contributing $ 393 million to the country’s economy, according to the Czech Film Commission.
Filming is currently paused at Marvel’s and Disney + The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and at Amazon’s Carnival Row, according to the commission.
The Hungarian National Film Institute says the country is “the most popular filming destination in continental Europe” and that large-scale productions spent more than $ 565 million there in 2019.
With the “year-round reserved” soundstages, the Hungarian National Film Institute has released a series of Covid-19 guidelines for filmmakers to ensure the health and safety of the cast and crew, which Kael hopes will “allow restart production at full capacity. “
One of those productions is Denis Villeneuve’s big-budget science fiction film Dune, which was partly filmed in the country last year, and filming is scheduled to resume in August, according to the Hungarian National Film Institute.
.
