PRESS CONFERENCE 2023

The filming volume in Vienna in 2022 was again significantly above the level before the start of the pandemic. Marijana Stoisits, Managing Director of the Vienna Film Commission, is very satisfied: “Vienna as a film industry location has weathered the period of the pandemic very well.” Vienna is going into the future strengthened with new initiatives. “In particular, the return of international productions to the city was very pleasing in 2022,” Stoisits said. The two Netflix series “The Recruit” and “Criminel” as well as the blockbuster “Extraction 2 – Tyler Rake” and the Amazon production “Sachertorte” provided a huge boost for Vienna as a film location.

“Last year, with the Vienna Film Incentive and the planning of the studios at the Vienna harbor, the city took essential strategic steps to consistently and sustainably expand the film location and to make the framework conditions more attractive for both the international and domestic film industry,” emphasizes Veronica Kaup-Hasler, Vienna’s acting city councilor for culture and science, and goes on to stress: “For the Vienna Film Commission, this sets the course for successfully continuing its excellent work for Vienna as a filming and production location in the future.” Managing Director Stoisits thanks the Vienna City Council and the city government for the extraordinarily good cooperation in the concrete implementation of film shoots, regardless of whether they are domestic, international, small or large productions.

In 2022, 624 film projects of all genres and with varying degrees of technical complexity were submitted to the Vienna Film Commission for processing. A total of 1102 applications for filming permits were submitted for these national and international projects, for which the Vienna Film Commission prepared 1103 letters of recommendation and forwarded them to the relevant basic administrative departments. The number of filming applications and letters of recommendation issued has thus decreased by about 15% compared to 2021. The announcement of the new incentive model with a cut-off date of Jan. 1, 2023, is likely to have led to many projects being postponed until 2023.

The development in international productions is encouraging. Here again, there was a very significant increase of 21 percent: 162 applications for filming permits were processed by the Vienna Film Commission for 102 international projects. These international projects varied in scope.

Vienna as a film location was particularly high on streamers’ radar with series such as “The Recruit,” “Criminel” and the blockbuster “Extraction 2 – Tyler Rake” for Netflix and “Sachertorte” for Amazon. Smaller projects for various online and TV travel formats also found their way back to Vienna in 2022 after the pandemic-related travel restrictions were lifted. Most project applications from abroad came from Germany, the UK and the USA, followed by France, Australia and 22 other countries.