Written by Tom Deehan on Jul 1, 2016. Posted in Incentive News

Legislation for a film incentive programme being considered in Finland

After a fierce lobbying campaign in the nation’s Government over the last year, Finland may finally be getting a film incentive programme of its own. In the event of numerous suggestions being submitted in late 2015, the Minister of Education and Culture, Sanni Grahn-Laasonen established a task force to construct a single proposal for the incentive to be considered for the state budget.

The plan, which calls for a 25% cash rebate system to be used has now been released. It asks that EUR10 million be set aside for the incentive which if approved, would make it one of the most competitive programmes of its kind in the Nordic States.

Pressure has been mounting ever since Norway introduced its own incentive in 2015, offering a 20% reimbursement designed to attract foreign Producers to film on location in the country. This in turn was inspired partly by Iceland’s own programme which has been in operation since 2007 and has attracted high-profile productions such as HBO’s Game of Thrones and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

Johanna Karppinen, CEO of Audiovisual Finland and a member of the task force explains: “it looks like the decision-makers have really woken up to the possibilities the incentive would have in boosting growth in Finland. The country has a lot to offer for international film crews both in terms of locations and skillful crews - I can't wait to see the great potential of this country used to its fullest.”

The list of international films to have shot in Finland include the adventure film Hanna and the recent adaptation of John Lé Carre’s Our Kind of Traitor (pictured), which filmed at the Rukatunturi ski resort. A new financial incentive would help to attract more foreign investment in the future.