Czech Audiovisual Fund appoints new chief to replace Helena Bezděk Fraňková

The revamped funding body for the audiovisual sector in the Czech Republic has appointed Veronika Slámová, an award-winning film and TV producer and Czech TV exec, as its new head.

Helena Bezděk Fraňková

Slámová, who is currently head of production at public service broadcaster Czech TV, will take up her new post at the expanded and renamed Czech Audiovisual Fund (CAF) on November 18.

She replaces current CEO Helena Bezděk Fraňková, who oversaw the fund under its former guise, the Czech Film Fund, when it focused purely on traditional film production.

Since January 1, Prague-based CAF has expanded its budget, staff size and remit to meet its new funding obligations that now include series and video games, as well as traditional feature films.

The changes follow the passing of a new audiovisual act in Czech Republic in December 2024. It means the CAF’s budget is expected to increase from CZK 1.4bn (US$64m) in 2024 to between CZK 2bn and CZK 2.4bn per year.

This is thanks to a new 2% levy collected from revenues from cinema ticket sales, broadcast advertising, cable and satellite channels and streaming platforms and an additional 1.5% investment obligation on global streamers, such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video, bringing their contribution to 3.5%.

Veronika Slámová

Slámová begins her new position after eight years in her current role at Czech TV and at a point when CAF is expected to announce the winners of its first call for projects, which opened last month.

Recent projects Slámová has produced include Ta druha (The Other), which won the Czech human rights Festival One World, feature film Cesta do tmy (Road To Darkness), which was nominated for Czech Lion and documentary War Correspondent that won the documentary prize at the Warsaw Film Festival. Currently her project, Troublemaking Women, about Czech gender inequality, is a finalist at Prix Italia in the Digital Factual category.

Before her current role at Czech TV, Slámová was an executive producer at Czech TV, producing documentaries and live broadcasts of concerts and performing arts.

Previously she worked as a production manager on foreign feature productions filmed in Prague, such as The Brothers Grimm, A Knight’s Tale, and Hart’s War.