AV production incentive: a second additional budget and changes to minimum funding requirements
There will be changes to the minimum requirements for the AV Production Incentive granted by Business Finland for audiovisual productions in 2023. The changes aim to encourage large international productions to come to Finland with the help of the incentive. Another additional budget has already been granted for the end of 2022 to meet the historically strong demand for the national AV Production Incentive.
The 9.5 million AV Production Incentive authorized for 2022 and the additional funding of 7.5 million euros received in June are tied to the pending funding applications and decisions. For the second time this year, the AV Production Incentive is receiving additional funding of 3 million euros until the end of the year, so the application service for the incentive remains open as usual.
Changes to the minimum funding requirements for 2023
The AV Production Incentive steering group of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture decided on the new minimum requirements for receiving the incentive in September.
"The incentive aims to attract more international productions to Finland, from which the domestic industry can also learn to support its own growth. The change is motivated by sustainable growth rather than quick profits, enabling the Finnish AV industry to become internationally competitive," says Petra Tarjanne, Ministerial Adviser at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The most significant change is related to the amount of funding from outside Finland, which must be at least 25 percent starting from January 2023. The amount of external funding has varied in recent years. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the share of private funding required from outside Finland was reduced to 15 percent for 2022, compared to 20 percent in 2021. Foreign private funding refers to a foreign distributor, co-producer, or other private funder.
AV Production Incentive's minimum requirements of total budget and expenditure in Finland starting from January 2023
In addition, there may still be some minor adjustments to the financing conditions of the AV Production Incentive for next year. For example, customer identification (KYC, Know Your Customer) and international sanctions resulting from the war in Ukraine require, among other things, companies to submit group-level financial data.
The AV Production Incentive develops the industry with a long-term perspective
The change in financing from outside Finland from 15% to 25% will be evident in Finland's domestic productions.
"The goal of the AV Production Incentive is to achieve long-term structural development in the Finnish AV sector," says Laura Mäkelä, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The AV Production Incentive is a maximum 25% cash rebate for production costs incurred in Finland. The authorization for the incentive in 2023 is expected to be the same amount as at the beginning of 2022, i.e., 9.5 million euros.
More information
Funding team at Business Finland
productionincentive (a) businessfinland.fi
Audiovisual Production Incentive – Business Finland
