Webinar Wrap-Up : International Incentives

On June 22^nd, representatives from Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom gathered in virtual space to discuss international incentives in the sixth installment of the 411 Publishing/Producers Guild of America’s Production Incentive webinar series.  This webinar was sponsored by our partnering sponsor Entertainment Partners, the leader in payroll and production services in the entertainment industry, and Stirling Henry, a prestigious Australian corporate immigration firm that provides Australian and global immigration services to international corporate clients.

Joe Chianese, Vice President of Business Development and Production Planning for Entertainment Partners moderated the panel.  He was joined by Catherine McDonnell from Fox Studios, Australia, Tax Incentives Specialty Lawyer Dr. Hans Joachim Radau from the German law office of Rechtanswalt, Fachanwalt, and Steuerrecht, and Andy Weltman, Executive Vice President of US Production for the UK Film Council.

After a brief introduction by Sean Killebrew, Publisher of 411 Publishing, the panel opened with a lively presentation by McDonnell pertaining to Australia’s recently enhanced incentive package.   McDonnell first defined the qualifying Australian production expenditure, otherwise known as QAPE.  The minimum QAPE requirement for a production offset is one million Australian for films and $500,000 Australian per an hour for television.   McDonnell also defined the qualifying factors of the location offset and post production, digital and visual effects offset, as well as defining exactly what else in a production’s budget would attribute to QAPE.

Radau spent time defining the German Federal Film Fund, otherwise known as DFFF.  The rebate per a film for the DFFF is 20% of qualifying German Spends (which is capped at 80% of the film’s total production costs).  Radau carefully went through the selling points of the DFFF, which included the definition of German Spend, production costs, and the criteria behind who may apply, as well as many other intricate elements of the German rebate.

Producers interested in the UK Film Tax Relief must ensure that films qualify as British either under the Cultural Test or as an official co-production, explained Weltman.  A great benefit to the UK Film Tax Relief is the fact that there is no cap on the amount that can be claimed.  Weltman took time to discuss the finer points of the qualifying spend and other details of the Film Tax Relief.

Before the session concluded, Radau spent some time discussing the incentive structure of Hungary and the newly adopted tax incentives in the Czech Republic.

This webinar and all other webinars in the 411 Publishing/Producers Guild of America Production Incentive Webinar series may be found by visiting:

http://www.newyork411.com/webinar/webinar.cfm

To learn more about the PGA, please visit:

www.producersguild.org

To learn more about Entertainment Partners, please visit:

www.entertainmentpartners.com

To learn more about Stirling Henry, please visit:

www.stirlinghenry.com