The conversation opened with a reflection on how early production teams must consider filming locations. Jeff Wachtel noted the historical shift away from traditional hubs like Los Angeles: "When I was at USA (Network) and Sci-Fi, shooting in LA was really not even on the table. One of the jokes was ‘USA Network: Made in Canada.’ Suits was shot in Toronto, Psych in Vancouver. Mr. Robot was the first time I can remember that we actually shot in New York. Monk’s second season was the first time we brought a show back to LA after starting in Toronto." Wachtel emphasized that budget tiers often dictate options: "If you’re at a high-end streamer or HBO, maybe the budget lets you manage [location costs]. I’ve never been fortunate enough to have a budget that big."

Brendan Foley echoed this, citing Sherlock & Daughter’s use of Dublin to double for Victorian London: "Large swathes of [London] were flattened in WWII or redeveloped. Dublin has Georgian and Victorian streets. Our plucky young protagonist leaves America from the side of the Guinness factory—reality and production locations don’t always align." Wachtel shared insights on Good Cop/Bad Cop, set in the Pacific Northwest but filmed in Queensland: "We found mountains that doubled well. The Gold Coast has better sand dunes than Malibu—audiences thought we were in California!" He revealed the financial imperative: "To access Australian tax credits, almost our entire cast and crew were local. Only two Americans were in it." Brendan Fitzgerald highlighted Spain’s competitive edge, with Secuoya Studios leveraging tax credits (up to 65% in certain regions) and diverse landscapes: "Between Spain, the Canary Islands, and Colombia, we can replicate almost any topography. Monte Cristo was rejected for tax credits because our sets looked too much like Cuba!" He stressed the importance of stacking incentives, like combining Colombian and Canary Islands shoots to hit 52% rebates.

The panel agreed that co-productions are now essential but fraught with challenges. Foley quipped: "The boom-time joke was the Netflix receptionist answering, ‘Hello, Netflix, you’re greenlit!’—sadly never true." Wachtel added: "Budgets are so tight that you self-censor early, asking, ‘Where can this shoot?’ before you even have a broadcaster." Fitzgerald outlined Secuoya’s strategy of global "pods" to pre-finance projects: "We partner with producers who can sell locally while we handle 20–40% of shooting in Spain or Colombia... It’s about volume without putting the quality at risk." When asked about hidden costs, Wachtel warned: "What are the things we should be wary of the perhaps means that all the cheapest price isn't the best deal for your projects... You need a place where people want to work".

Fitzgerald noted Spain’s rivalry with other countries: "We lose a lot of post production business to London and from the U.S., we lose a lot of co-production business to Australia. And if you're sitting in Burbank and you look at a map, Australia looks like it's close... And I think that there's still an issue from a studio's perspective large distance is equivalent to a reduction in control... We're covering the five Nordic countries, Germany, France, UK. So we're in business there. And so we are automatically taking advantage of the tax credits and those parts of the world."



CEE countries were also named as competitors to established production locations. Foley said: "Ireland (where they shot Sherlock & Daughter) has this terrific tax break, it has a very good crew. It is not cheap but so it has those things. So many series, like Miss Scarlett and the Duke, for instance, first season shot in Dublin, next six seasons - in Serbia. And it worked in both cases, but for them, it worked to move, and I know they're very happy. We looked at Republic Ireland, UK, we looked at several places in Eastern Europe - we actually included Serbia and Bulgaria." Fitzgerald countered: "nothing against Serbia, but it's easier to convince an actor to come and spend 60, 90 days in Spain and perhaps in other parts of the world." Wachtel shared: "We (USA Network) did a miniseries called the Starter Wife with Debra Messing. We couldn't afford to make it anywhere near California, and ultimately, Australia, it was what we had to do. And the Gold Coast, which had better sand dunes and a more gorgeous ocean, than Malibu does, and everybody thought it was in Malibu. I was, well, you know, Malibu wishes that it looked as good as Queensland, it was kind of aspirational, but no one questioned if we were actually in place of your dreams."

As the discussion closed, Foley likened modern TV financing to indie film: "Private equity can be mad, bad, or both. My first offer required picking up cash in suitcases—I passed." Wachtel countered: "The challenges that Hollywood is facing now, the arrogance factor is perhaps lower from those buyers and the desire to work with others is enhanced, which is new, right?" Fitzgerald struck an optimistic note: "I think that we're at 72% of peak TV and if we are in a moment where it's stable and we're only 72% of that moment when the planet created the most audio visual content that it ever did in 100 million years. That's not such a bad place to be."

A questioner probed reshuffling scenes for cost savings. Foley deferred to creators: "I think it boils down to are you damaging the fabric of the story, or are you simply telling the same story with different hats on? I must admit, I've become more and more pragmatic along the way." The panel closed with unanimous advice: Fight for the soul of your project, but embrace compromise elsewhere. As Wachtel put it: "you better start with a lot of passion because you're going to face a lot of compromises over time."