Apple TV+ sci-fi epic Foundation slated to shoot in Prague this summer

Following successful and large-scale production in Czechia last summer, producers will return to Prague to shoot the futuristic show's third season.

Expats.cz Staff

Written by Expats.cz Staff Published on 24.05.2024 16:05:00 (updated on 28.05.2024) Reading time: 2 minutes

The third season of the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Foundation will be filmed at Prague Studios until the end of August, the Association of Audiovisual Producers (APA) has confirmed. Filmmakers plan to spend up to CZK 1 billion in Czechia on producing the latest series.

"Filmmakers chose the Czech Republic thanks to its quality facilities, skilled film professions, and state incentives," according to the APA. Production for the third series was previously delayed by the U.S. film industry’s strike action last year. 

Foundation features an ensemble cast led by Lee Pace and Jared Harris. It is based on a futuristic Galactic Empire and tracks its rise and fall. The saga follows a group of individuals who use their knowledge of psychology and mathematics to predict and mold the empire’s future.

Successful filming for second series

The second season of the science fiction series, based on the eponymous series of novels by American author Isaac Asimov, was also filmed in Prague, helping generate CZK 2.5 billion and creating 4,000 jobs. Filming for the second season took just 74 days, but preparatory work lasted over a year.

Foundation filming locations

The second season of Foundation was filmed all over the Czech Republic – primarily in North Bohemia and Ostrava, as well as in Prague, Kladno, Sedlec, Pardubice, and Střemy. The Homolák Quarry, Prachov Rocks, Dobříš, and Kačina Chateau feature in the series. According to the Czech Film Commission, location scouts were tasked with finding brutalist architecture. Production was highly technical and sometimes complicated, featuring sets flooded with water and LED volume technology (large-scale display tech using LED lights for vivid images) and 3D printed props.

Jindřich Guttner of Prague Studios says that the company has leased seven studios as well as all offices, workshops, and warehouses to the series directors until late summer. Guttner explains that this could yet be extended.

Attracting the best filmmakers

APA chairman Vratislav Šlajer remarked that Czechia’s generous rewards system for filmmakers – giving them a chance to recover up to one-fifth of their total costs – incentivizes the best producers and directors to film in Czechia. “We need to continue to pay attention to this to ensure that the Czech Republic does not lose the attention of foreign filmmakers," he added.

Czechia has become a popular filming destination for streaming platforms, including Apple TV+'s spy thriller mini-series Little Drummer Girl (2018), season 1 of Amazon’s Wheel of Time (2019), and Carnival Row (2018-2021). Disney+’s Anne Frank project, A Small Light (2023), was filmed in Amsterdam, Prague, and other Czech cities.

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