Barbora Hladíková: From production dreams to casting – and back to the producer’s challenge
In first year of school, she told her teacher she was going to be a production manager one day. Back then, her reasoning was simple “They just make phone calls and drink coffee.” Today, Barbora Hladíková knows exactly how much stress and responsibility hides behind that coffee. At twenty-four, she has five years at FAMU behind her, a long list of on-set experiences, and a strong appetite for new territory. Maybe that’s why she applied to CME Content Academy – which she describes as an intense school of reality, in every sense of the word.
Barbora comes from a filmmaking family, and from an early age she took every opportunity that came her way, determined to collect as much practical experience as possible. At seventeen, she assisted on a feature film, at eighteen, she landed on the set of the TV series Božena. “I’ve always been interested in what Michal Reitler does,” she says. “I’ve followed his work for a long time, and he’s one of the producers whose projects consistently interest me. When I found out he was involved in CME Content Academy, that was it. Decision made.”
She applied after a gap year. She had successfully finished her bachelor’s degree at FAMU, but didn’t yet have a specific project to carry into a master’s programme and CME Content Academy arrived at exactly the right moment. “I thought I’d clear my head and test whether I even want to be a producer,” she says. “Because I don’t think you can really learn that. Either you have it in you, or you don’t.”
She openly admits that at FAMU she never took part in story development and within her field, it wasn’t expected. Production felt like a service role – secure the equipment, build the crew, keep an eye on the budget. At CME Content Academy, though, she encountered a completely different approach. Developing an idea, working with creators, thinking dramaturgically… all of that was new to her. And refreshing.
“After years in film, I ran toward casting,” she says. “That’s where I found myself. I’m an organisational type, I can read people, and the work makes sense to me.” But at the same time, she’s discovering that producing might not be as far from her as she once thought. “Maybe producing isn’t outside me after all. It’s a challenge.”
She is starting her internship in a casting department – and she’s not beginning from scratch. She already has experience from commercials and scripted productions. She hasn’t worked on reality TV yet, but she admits she’s been understanding it more and more. “At the entrance exams, I didn’t talk about reality at all,” she says. “But during the Academy, me and other girls completely fell into it. We watch The Bachelor, we comment on every episode. And now I’m going to intern on SuperStar.”
What excited her at Content Academy was the range of people and perspectives. “Tomáš Baldýnský is insanely funny, he has incredible energy. Lenka Szántó surprised me with how openly she talks about the ethical questions around true crime. These are things you don’t really discuss at school: what you need to cover legally, how you work with families, what’s ethically acceptable.”
Right now, she’s working on a comedy project based on an idea by her classmate Dominika Vondrušková – inspired by a real part-time job and a funny story. “It turned into a witty, slightly absurd love story between a young woman and an intimacy coach.” For Barbora, it’s also her first attempt at shaping a producer’s vision. She’s cautious, but curious. “I don’t know yet if I can pull it off,” she says. “But even if I end up finding out producing isn’t for me, at least I’ll know for sure. And that alone is progress.”
As for the future, she isn’t making fixed plans, not yet. “After the internship, I’ll see what fits. Casting is exciting, but maybe I’ll realise I want to be closer to development. Right now I’m putting it all together. CME Content Academy has given me a lot – but only once I connect it with practice will I know what comes next.”