10-01-2019

Record Number of Projects Apply for New Romanian Rebate Scheme

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    BUCHAREST: A total of 41 projects applied for rebates in Romania in October-December 2018, of which seven have already been approved, two have been rejected and the rest of them are in the process of evaluation. Initially the 50 m EUR annual budget was much smaller as the rebate scheme was launched in October 2018, but the National Commission for Prognosis eventually announced that the whole funding of 50 m EUR has been made available.

    The approved projects include David Berman’s War by Philip Noyce and a Florence Nightingale biopic presumably starring Keira Knightley. Both David Berman’s War aka The Devil’s Brigade and Florence are serviced in Romania by Frame Film.

    Another international project approved for the rebate is Ivan Silvestrini's Dragonheart 5, serviced by Castel Film Studios. The film is a sequel to Universal’s Dragonheart 4, which was also shot in Romania. Rebates have also been approved for other international projects serviced by Castel Film: The Medusa by Peter Webber (starring Pierce Brosnan, Jessie Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave), Afterburn by Jung Byung-gil (starring Gerald Butler), Survive the Night by Keoni Waxman and Kati Dippold's 8 Hours Till Sunrise.

    The state aid scheme launched on 8 October 2018 offers a 35% cash rebate on qualified expenditure for international productions shooting in Romania and also for domestic productions. Additionally, productions explicitly promoting Romania, with a minimum local spend of 20% of the total budget of the production, can also apply for a rebate of 10%.

    There is a total cap of 50 m EUR per year to fund the scheme. The minimum required amount of qualified expenditure is 100,000 EUR. The scheme is open to feature films, medium and short fiction films, TV series, direct-to-video, internet and any other support films, documentaries and animated films. The rebate cannot exceed 10 m EUR per project (or per season, for a TV series).

    The scheme works on a first come first served basis and it is set to run until the end of 2020.