The latest report published by the Netherlands Film Fund, the country’s agency responsible for supporting the national audiovisual sector, illustrates that the cash rebates granted to 256 audiovisual productions generated €288.4 million in production spend in the Dutch industry. In other words, the investments made by the organisation have proven to be very profitable, as every euro granted generated €4.60 in overall Dutch expenditure. The document confirms the significant role of international co-productions, which accounted for 63% (161 in total) of Dutch audiovisual production in the period under review, namely between July 2014 and December 2017.

Considering the film sector alone, 245 film projects received €55.7 million in the form of Film Production Incentive cash rebates, and therefore, €261.9 million were spent in the Netherlands on film productions. On the whole, the total spend on international film co-productions rose from €38.8 million in 2014 to €44.6 million in 2017. Ninety-three of the 245 film projects were fully Dutch-funded films (38%), and 152 were international co-productions (62%).

Furthermore, the first application round for high-end TV series granted an additional cash rebate of €7 million and generated a production spend estimated at €26.4 million. Thanks to this incentive, nine television projects found co-production partners in Norway, Belgium, Germany and the United States.

A non-exhaustive list of supported productions includes John Crowley’s The Goldfinch, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], Leonard Retel Helmrich’s The Long Season [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], Roel Reiné’s Redbad and Martin Koolhoven’s Brimstone [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
Q&A: Martin Koolhoven
scheda film]. 

The Film Production Incentive aims to support films and TV series in the form of cash rebates on production costs (up to 35%) that are subject to Dutch taxation. The purpose of this provision is to stimulate the growth of the national industry by enhancing its employment potential, and attracting foreign and local investments to develop talent and innovate. The report highlights the fact that without the financial impact of this scheme, the recipients would not have been expected to produce to this extent within the Netherlands alone. Olsberg SPI researchers are currently analysing the wider effects of the incentive in the period 2014-2017 and will publish their results later this summer.

For further information, the full report is available here.