Production Incentive Programme
The aim of the Croatian Audio-visual Centre Production Incentive Programme, available from 2012, is to encourage inward investment, promote Croatia internationally as filming location and connect Croatian cultural workers with their international peers.
The introduction of the incentives scheme in 2012 was created in order to boost foreign investment and co-productions in Croatia. Film and TV productions that want to receive support through the Croatian Audio-visual Centre scheme (20% cash rebate) have to incur a minimum spend in Croatia. They also need to use Croatian cast and film crew as well as pass a culture test as required by regulations on the Programme Incentive.
By the end of 2016, in the five-year period, 34 productions have been filmed in Croatia with the local expenditure of around 51 million euros. In the same period a number of over fourteen thousand Croatian cultural workers (professionals, interns and other workers) have been engaged in international film productions, which ensured higher mobility of film workers, enhancement of the level of their professional competences and increase of employment in the film sector. The number of productions, the level of local expenditure and the number of employed people are expected to increase through continued implementation of the measure.
In the first four years since the introduction of the incentive, the government disbursed 8.4 million EUR in filming incentives while these productions have spent 43.7 million EUR on Croatian products and services while filming in Croatia.
The evaluation of the measure done by the Institute for Public Finance (IJF) in Zagreb, has shown that for every Kuna paid out from the budget, there is a 1,5-2,3 Kuna return on the investment. It also showed a significant contribution to the tourist sector (increase in the number of overnight stays, tourist spending, but also media promotion due to film locations). It has also shown the increase in the number of film workers engaged, and its contribution to the professional education through ‘learning by doing’.