Barrandov Studio has long been known for its versatile sound stages, expansive backlots, and ability to transform Prague into cities across Europe. But one of its newest permanent assets wasn’t originally intended to last. A meticulously constructed 19th-century Paris street, originally built for the second season of Interview With the Vampire, has instead found a second life as one of the studio’s most in-demand standing sets.
Rather than dismantling the elaborate exterior after filming wrapped, Barrandov purchased and preserved the set. Three years later, the faux Parisian boulevard has already appeared in a growing number of international productions, illustrating how permanent backlots can extend the value of large-scale productions while helping attract future projects to the Czech Republic.
From vampire drama to permanent backlot
The Paris Street Backlot occupies roughly 2,500 square meters on the Barrandov Studio lot, immediately adjacent to its sound stages and production facilities. Designed as a faithful recreation of a 19th-century Paris street, it features 20 multi-story building facades and 10 accessible interiors that can be dressed and reconfigured for different productions.
Unlike many temporary film sets that are demolished once principal photography concludes, the Paris street was built to a standard that made long-term preservation feasible. Barrandov acquired the set after production on the second season of Interview With the Vampire, recognizing its potential for future international projects seeking a European period setting.
Photos: Facebook / Barrandov Studio
According to Gabriela Kolková, head of client services at Barrandov Studio speaking to Novinky.cz, the decision has proven successful, with the studio regularly renting the location to overseas productions.
The backlot offers filmmakers more than a convincing streetscape. Several interiors are fully accessible for filming, including spaces configured as apartments, bars, and period residences with staircases, fireplaces, and architectural details that can be modified by Barrandov’s decoration department. The set also includes a walkable rooftop with an unobstructed natural horizon, while nearby infrastructure provides electricity, water connections, parking, and direct access to the studio’s sound stages.
Kolková says the surrounding area also leaves room for expanding the scenery with additional temporary structures when productions require a larger environment. Combined with the studio’s extensive costume, prop, and workshop departments, the permanent set enables filmmakers to recreate a wide range of European urban settings without leaving the studio complex.
A growing list of international productions
The preserved backlot has already appeared in several high-profile international television productions, demonstrating its flexibility across different historical periods and genres.
Among the most recognizable is the second season of Netflix’s The Empress. One memorable sequence depicting the public burning of portraits of Emperor Franz Joseph I was filmed on the Paris street, despite representing imperial Vienna rather than the French capital. The production illustrates how carefully designed standing sets can double for multiple European cities with changes to signage, decorations, and street dressing.
The location has also been used for the French historical film Once Upon a Time… (Il était une fois), the series The Countess of Monte Cristo, and Netflix’s upcoming Kennedy miniseries, which follows a young John F. Kennedy’s journey to Europe in the 1930s. It was also recently featured in the video to Lizzo’s Love in Real Life.
The variety of productions highlights an increasingly common approach in European filmmaking: investing in permanent standing sets that can be repeatedly adapted instead of constructing elaborate temporary streets for individual projects. Such backlots reduce preparation time, lower production costs, and provide directors with controlled filming environments while maintaining an authentic period appearance.
For Barrandov Studio, the Paris street complements a long tradition of versatile exterior sets that have helped attract international productions for decades. Together with its recently expanded sound stage capacity and comprehensive production services, the preserved backlot strengthens Prague’s appeal as one of Europe’s leading filming destinations for period dramas.
While audiences may never recognize the same cobblestones and facades from one production to the next, that’s precisely the point. With careful art direction and dressing, the street can convincingly become Paris, Vienna, London, or another European capital entirely. What began as a single-purpose set for a gothic vampire series has evolved into a reusable filmmaking asset that continues to generate work for Barrandov and reinforces the Czech Republic’s reputation as a destination capable of hosting ambitious international productions.
More specifics about Barrandov Studio’s Paris Street backlot can be found here.
