While the production services scene keeps Prague's commercial and film crews busy, at least one prominent local insider decries the state of Czech creativity.

"It's depressing and it will be bleak over the next few years," says Daniel Bergmann, the Czech frontman of London's Stink and a member of the board of Prague production and services company Stillking Films.

"Basically the scene in the Czech Republic has deteriorated over the last few years. Like all other places in Eastern Europe, the start of things in Czech was actually pretty cool, especially with agencies like Mark/BBDO and Leo Burnett, that were quite bold," says Bergmann. "The laws were very loose and the advertising was quite liberal right after the revolution. Now it's getting tighter and that's affecting the creativity. The market produces good things from time to time but no one makes consistently good work, only random bursts."

Bergmann points to the exodus of young American, British and Scando creatives who flocked to Prague with other ex-pats in the early 1990s. Their presence in newborn agencies fuelled a creative boom, however, the higher fees they soon commanded sparked resentment among local creatives and says Bergmann, "Over time they were pushed out, and it has had a real impact on quality."

In a similar turn, this foreign-skewed pay scale continues to manifest with regards to director's rates. Creative director Stepan Tyller of Mark/BBDO, Prague says international directors receive larger fees than do homegrown talent; he says Czech directors earn about $110,000 US for directing a spot, while international directors generally earn around $130,000 US. Speaking from the vantage point of a native Czech who now works abroad, Bergmann says the Czech commercial scene runs the risk of a return to its "Wild East" early days, when under-the-table deals and a lack of proper competition made transparent business transactions impossible.

Lucien Tyssendier, managing director of Prague's Partnership Pictures (PP), is eager for the Czech Republic to improve its image. PP is the Republic's second largest production company after Stillking and conforms to the business model familiar to companies in South Africa and Canada: servicing foreign spot jobs in search of cheaper productions and representing local and foreign directors for domestic jobs.

"In the eyes of Americans, we are sometimes seen to be second rate. This couldn't be further from the truth. Prague is a production center on par with London and Los Angeles," says Tyssendier.

True enough. Recent Western films such as From Hell, Dungeons & Dragons and The Bourne Identity have all been shot in and around Prague, and both Partnership and Stillking boast hundreds of commercial productions serviced over the past year.

"As the industry becomes more cost effective, we are able to attract work from around the world and shoot at competitive prices with high production standards," explains Tyssendier. "[As for the local scene] we have experienced no problems with our national economy. It has enabled us to be competitive on the world market and stable enough for us to build a successful and secure company."

Local directors on the Partnership roster are Jan Krofta, Jiri Strach, Pavel Kurak (a.k.a. Smoker), and Juraj Sajmovic. The company also has exclusive rights to represent 38 international directors in the Czech Republic, via associations with London, Milan and LA companies Spectre, Rose Hackney Barber, Godman, BRW, and Underground Productions.

Webfiles:
Stillking> http://www.stillking.com
Partnership Pictures> http://www.partnershippictures.com