Videoage International November 2019

4 World November 2019 2022. Program details can be found at: www.crfm.fepic.ro. Eligible productions that can benefit from the cash rebate include service productions, with the involvement of a regi- stered Romanian film produ- ction company; co-productions between either European or other international companies with financial and/or creative participation of a Romanian co- producer; and Romanian films. The minimum of qualified expenses is 100,000 euro, and there is a total cap per project of 10 million euro. The yearly budget to fund the program is 50 million euro. All films must meet the cultu- ral criteria test, which follows the usual cultural eligibility tests in Europe. All film cate- gories qualify, from short and medium fiction projects to TV series and documentaries. Even films intended for direct-to- video or Internet distribution qualify. On average, the entire pro- cedure — from filing the ap- plication until issuance of the applicant’s certificate — takes around 35 days. Upon comple- tion of the production, within 20 days from the last expen- diture made in the territory of Romania, but no later than two years from the issuance of the applicant’s certificate, a request for payment of state aid is to be filed, accompanied by an audit report certifying the amount of eligible expenditure actually incurred. Generally, the proce- dure — from filing the payment request until effective payment — takes approximately 130-160 days. Alien Film, a member of the Creative Romanian Film Ma- kers association, has been help- ing to ease the entire process by providing all the admini- stration and legal framework for this undertaking, assuring the correct identification of the amount of cash to be refunded and covering all administration activities related to the cash rebates. Alien Film is run by Iuliana Tarnovetchi, managing director and founder, and Oana Prata, managing partner. Pictured above left is Creative Romanian Film Makers’ director Mihai Lupu As a result of the lobby activities of various Romanian film industry organizations since the end of 2018, including the Creative Romanian Film Makers association, the Romanian government has approved a state aid program that offers a 35 percent cash rebate on qualified expenditures for international productions shooting in Romania. An extra 10 percent can be obtained if the story or the main characters are Romanians. Productions that spend 20 percent of their total budgets toward local expenses can also get an extra 10 percent. Thus, a production that meets all of these specifications could claim a rebate of up to 45 percent. This makes the Romanian film incentive the most generous one in Europe and one of the most generous ones worldwide. The program runs until December 31, 2020, but is expected to be extended until Romania’s Generous Cashback For International Productions (Continued on Page 6) rl