Croatia’s Filming Location Attraction Growing Fast – €15 Million Spent in 2014
- by croatiaweek
- in Business
Tax incentives for film and TV productions in Croatia have been in place since 2012. In the first year they were introduced international productions spent around 25 million kuna (3.3 million euros), growing to around 50 million kuna (6.5 million euros) in the second year. This year that amount has grown to around 100 million kuna (13 million euros)…
TV series such as Game of Thrones, which is filmed in Dubrovnik, Split and Šibenik and has been Croatia’s biggest earner, have taken advantage of the 20% rebate system introduced by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the government two years ago. Among a host of other international productions which have been attracted to film in Croatia since the introduction of the rebate incentive include – Diana (filmed in Zagreb and Opatija), US series Dig (filmed in Split and Trogir), hit Swedish series Piratskatten hemlighet (Christmas in the Sun) (filmed on Brač), Danish film Itsi Bitsi, and Swedish-Croatian co-production Cure – Život druge.
Last week the European Audiovisual Observatory organised a presentation and round table in Brussels analysing the implementation and effects of state subsidies within eight selected countries. In addition to the Croatia, this analysis also included Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom. Croatia’s benefits have been obvious with considerable growth since its implementation in 2012, and demand is growing.
“Today, incentives are a necessary requirement to be a serious exporter of film services, but they alone are not enough. All of Europe, and even beyond, recognize the important role the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) plays (and the state in this case) to create confidence within the international audiovisual community. This is evident by our recent results,” said Sanja Ravlić, who is a member of the Commission for Incentives at HAVC and Croatia’s representative for Eurimages.
PHOTO: Game of Thrones set / HAVC/Željko Tutnjević
