The White Lotus”: Filming canceled after chaos over film funding!

The White Lotus”: Filming canceled after chaos over film funding!

The renowned series creators at HBO have now finally decided not to film the fourth season of the popular series “The White Lotus” in Austria. After months of deliberations and hopes that Vienna would be an option as a filming location, this idea was shelved due to financial uncertainties and stagnating film funding. This reports serienjunkies.de.

Vienna has been discussed as the favorite for filming for a long time, as the Vienna Film Commission has been working intensively since September 2024 to attract the production to the federal capital. “The White Lotus” could have enriched the cultural and economic life of the city as another prestige title. However, budget uncertainties and the temporarily suspended FISA+ film funding program led to the final decision to move filming to another location. Marijana Stoisits, the managing director of the Vienna Film Commission, confirmed that Vienna was among the final four candidates at the beginning of 2025, but those responsible for the production decided against the location because of the unclear framework conditions.

The background to the decision

The cancellation is mainly due to the political situation and the blockage of the necessary film funding program, FISA+, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This program offers production companies non-repayable grants of 30% of eligible expenses. In the past, the FISA+ program had generated over 347 million euros in added value over the last year and a half. However, with the change in government, the application guidelines are unclear and it is therefore currently not possible for production companies to submit funding applications. Former Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler commented on this and called the situation a “tragedy made in Austria” and emphasized the urgent need to keep Austria competitive as a location for film productions, especially since other large productions such as “The Hunger Games” are also affected.

Stoisits fears a “massive slump” in filming in Vienna in the second half of the year, which could have a serious impact on the domestic film industry, which generated over 1.6 billion euros in 2022 and employed 9,762 people.

A setback for Austria as a film location

However, the elation over the defensiveness of domestic film production could not only represent a short-term setback. Austrian film funding increased to almost 115 million euros in 2023, which corresponds to an increase of 30.5% compared to the previous year, but plans for the future seem uncertain due to the current situation. Even though filming for the new edition of “Inspector Rex” and the second season of “Crooks” is currently underway in the city, the question remains whether Austria will be able to continue to be considered a first-class filming location for upcoming large-scale productions.

The former filming locations of “The White Lotus” became real tourist magnets after it was broadcast, and similar positive effects would have been expected in Austria. But now the film industry has to reorient itself and find solutions to maintain the country's attractiveness. Because the situation is clear: if the general conditions are not improved soon, Austria could fall further behind on the world map of film locations. And that would be a bitter loss not only for the film industry, but for the entire economic and cultural landscape of the country.