China and New Zealand have finally signed an official filming pre-production agreement that applies to feature films made for cinemas and TV. Chinese and New Zealand filmmakers working under the co-production agreement will have the same access to incentives and funding in each country as national productions.
Florida’s new filming incentive scheme becomes available from today in a bid to attract more productions to film in the state. The 2010/2011 Florida Film & Entertainment Industry Financial Incentive Programme will offer USD242 million in transferable tax credits over the next five years. Nearly USD55 million worth of this fund will be available for 2010/2011.
The Czech Republic has today launched a new filming rebate of up to 20%. It’s designed to make a Czech shoot more economically viable for international productions as well as local Czech projects.
Film productions shooting in Virginia could now be eligible for a refundable tax credit of 15%. An additional 5% could be available for projects shooting in particularly deprived areas of the state.
A USD30 million new film starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski is to begin shooting in Anchorage, Alaska, in the next few months. Everybody Loves Whales will be filmed on location as a result of the state’s recently-introduced filming tax incentives. The scheme enables productions to benefit from a transferable tax credit of up to 44%.
An executive from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was among those testifying at a meeting in Secaucus, New Jersey, last week, according to the Star-Ledger. The meeting was held to hear arguments from people in favour of keeping the state’s 20% tax credit.
New Zealand and China have formed a Memorandum of Understanding. This means more Chinese film productions will be made in Auckland. The agreement was reached after meetings between a delegation of Auckland filmmakers and the China Film Association.
A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday this week in New Jersey that could lead to the state’s Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program being halted for the next fiscal year.