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International appeal of Dutch film industry continues to grow

Netherlands Production Incentive leads to production spend of € 198.8 million.

The Netherlands Film Production Incentive has boosted the local production climate and reinforced the international competitiveness of the Dutch film industry as a whole, a survey recently commissioned by the Netherlands Film Fund reveals. Results show significant increases both in Dutch production spend and international production activity coming to the Netherlands. The independent research was carried out recently, measuring the period between July 2014 (when the Incentive became operational) and December 2016.

The Netherlands Film Fund has supported 181 film projects with grants totaling almost € 42 million, which has led to Dutch production spend of € 198.8 million. Every euro granted by the Incentive Scheme generated Dutch spend of € 4.77. Confidence levels among Dutch film production entrepreneurs remain high, as do expectations of growth within employment and economic activity.

International productions such as Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan and Brimstone by Martin Koolhoven have received Incentive support, as well as the Madonna-themed documentary Strike a Pose (Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan) and recently animation feature Bunuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles, a Spanish/Dutch co-production directed by Salvador Simó Busom.

To increase the effectiveness of the Production Incentive, the majority of respondents suggested that it should be widened to include other genres, such as high-end TV drama, documentary and animation series. Respondents also backed an increase of the maximum incentive contribution, which is currently limited to €1 million per application. The Fund will take this input into account when carrying out the intended modifications the scheme in order to make it even more effective.

Click here to read the summary of the survey results. There will be three more application rounds in 2017, with submission deadlines of 9 May, 29 August and 31 October. The Netherlands Film Production Incentive offers a financial contribution in the form of a 30% cash rebate on the qualifying Dutch production costs. For more information, click here.