Political drama House of Cards has made a deal to keep filming in Maryland for its third season, after weeks of uncertainty. Production company Media Rights Capital (MRC) had said they would consider filming elsewhere if local filming incentive support was not increased.
The UK and China have signed a new co-production treaty. Co-productions filming in the UK will have access to the British Film Institute (BFI) Film Fund and the UK's formal filming incentive programme, while co-productions in China will bypass the annual quota on international releases.
Malta has increased its filming rebate to 25% and will incentivise productions to film the country as itself. The Mediterranean island nation wants to attract more shoots like Captain Phillips, but producers may be eligible for an additional 2% rebate for stories set in Malta.
A politician in the Philippines has pushed for a formal filming incentive to attract more productions on the scale of Manila-filmed spy thriller The Bourne Legacy. The ‘Fostering Investment through Local and International Movies (FILM) Act’ calls for a points-based incentive.
Kevin Spacey’s political drama House of Cards is likely to keep Maryland as its filming location now that the state has chosen to boost its filming tax credit. In the coming weeks lawmakers are expected to formalise an increase in Maryland’s film fund from USD7.5 million to USD18.5 million.
Oklahoma in the mid-western US has had its filming incentive programme extended through to mid-2024. The Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate will continue to offer USD5 million a year and recently helped attract the Oscar-nominated feature August: Osage County.
New Zealand’s improved Screen Production Grant comes into effect today. First announced in December, the country now offers a base 20% grant figure for international shoots, while major big-budget productions like James Cameron’s Avatar sequels will get a 25% grant.
An Executive Producer on the US miniseries True Detective has advocated better filming incentives in Scotland. Edinburgh-born Richard Brown said that increasing the filming tax credits available in Scotland on top of the existing UK incentive could help boost the country’s appeal.