This article provides a general overview of the financial and regulatory support measures taken across ALICE countries.
FRANCE - Both the state and the National Center for Cinema and Animated Image (CNC) have adopted emergency measures to help businesses, authors and self-employed workers of the film and cinema industry. These measures include: anticipated access to financial support to producers, distributors, video editors and exporters, early payments of financial aid and tax credit proceeds, tax suspension or relief, the creation of solidarity funds providing emergency financial aid of €1500/month to authors, self-employed workers and small businesses, access to €300 billion state-guaranteed loans from banks and to facilities from the Public Investment Bank. Moreover, as a response to the closure of cinemas during the COVID-19 lockdown, the French Parliament adopted an emergency law in March 2020 that provides for exceptional shorter window between theatrical and streaming releases.
ITALY - Several incentive measures for direct and indirect support have been implemented through the “Italia Care” (Cura Italia) Law Decree no. 18/2020 for theatrical and audiovisual sectors. Direct support includes compensation for entertainment workers, €130 million added to the public Fund for entertainment, cinema and audiovisual (“FUS”), and financial support to authors and artists through the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers’ (SIAE). Indirect support includes a “COVID” Tax Credit, tax suspension and the creation of tax premiums for employees.
POLAND - The Polish government has amended the Act on Cinematography of 30 June 2005 and the Act on Financial Support of Audio-visual Production of 9 November 2018 (AFSAVP) aiming to relax the eligibility rules for film funding programs, and to ease the process of evaluating qualified costs and executing contracts. Operational programs at the Polish Film Institute have also been amended to support producers during the pandemic, and a new system of stipends has been introduced for creative industry individuals.
SLOVAKIA - The main support funds for the arts, the Arts Council and the Audiovisual Fund, have lowered their requirements for grant project outputs and are setting up new grant schemes. In close cooperation with the artists, the Ministry, and the general public, the Arts Council amended its rules to enable carrying out projects that were altered or slowed down because of the pandemic. Ongoing projects have been reassessed individually, and a special €500,000 grant programme has been opened for cultural activities that remain possible within social distancing requirements.
The Audiovisual Fund is re-evaluating ongoing projects on a case-by-case basis and is currently examining the possibility of lowering the minimum spending limit to support smaller productions. The Fund also took a series of measures to support movie theatres, including: emergency financial aid of €600,000 to 46 cinemas across the country; compensation for additional costs related to COVID-19 safety measures; suppression or deferral of the distributors’ and producers’ fees; support for the completion of ongoing film and TV projects; and a €13,000 subsidy contribution to the "I'm going to the cinema" campaign initiated by the Association of Independent Producers, the Slovak Radio and Television (RTVS), the Union of Film Distributors and the Association of Cinema Operators.
SPAIN - The Government took support measures to address the economic and social impact of the pandemic in the audiovisual sector. These measures, published in the Official State Bulletin the Royal Decree Law 17/2020, include: increased flexibility of the requirements and procedures related to funds granted by the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) to producers, various tax incentives, direct funds to festivals and film organizations (€1.8 million), private television channels (€15 millions), distribution (€2.5 million), the creation of a €780 million guarantee fund for SMEs, and the amendment of the Royal Decree-Law 20/2020 to ease access to unemployment benefits for artists and culture workers.
WALLONIA - The government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation decided to use the €5 million Fonds St'Art (Impact Fund for Culture and Creativity) as a guarantee fund to compensate for the lack of insurance coverage for film shoots. This guarantee aims at compensating filming started between 1 July and 30 Sept. 2020 that would be interrupted or suspended due to the health crisis. It is limited to Belgian-initiated films and co-productions that receive the approval of the Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel, including those with a real Belgian artistic impact.
For information on the complementary programs initiated in the Puglia Region, Wallonia and Catalonia, please refer to our articles dated 14 May, 8 July and 31 July 2020.
