In 2012, initiated by the Croatian Audiovisual Center, the Filming in Croatia project was launched, in an effort to attract international investments in the country’s film sector. The Incentives Program gives local and international production companies a 25% rebate on their costs, if they meet certain conditions. In addition, for productions carried out in areas with below-average growth, an extra rebate of 5% is given. The productions that are eligible to be founded are feature films, cartoons, documentaries, TV movies and series, while soap operas, reality shows, video games and commercials are excluded. In addition to this criterion, it is necessary to hire actors and technicians from Croatia, while there is also a cultural test that consists of three parts: the cultural content, the use of country’s resources and the creative exploitation of material and human resources.
At the same time, the program is not limited to attracting foreign investors, but also supports Croatian productions that are carried out outside the stare. The projects are evaluated only on the basis of their artistic value by consultants of the Center, while it is obligatory that the productions must be bilateral and/or part of the European Convention on Film Productions.
The work of the Croatian Audiovisual Center, with the practical assistance it, offers, the funding and the staff, combined with the impressive locations are great incentives for a production to apply to the program. Croatia has made good use of its potential and its advantages as a country and the benefits it provides are, at the same time, of great importance and the proof of that is the fact that it has attracted numerous big productions and have been connected to it, such as Game of Thrones, Succession, Star Wars. With the outbreak of COVID-19, new benefits have been given out to the productions in order to attract their investments, such as additional discounts from the local offices that manage the productions. Compared to the previous year of the beginning of the pandemic, this year more than 330 shooting days and investments of 200 million kuna (26.5 million euros) have been done.
Maria-Parthena Moula
Sources:
- Vecernji List 06.10.2021, https://www.vecernji.hr/kultura/strani-filmasi-od-pocetka-godine-ostavili-u-hrvatskoj-cak-200-milijuna-kuna-1528699
- Filming in Croatia, https://filmingincroatia.hr/
- Image: Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/r02BhUQj6cE
