13/07/2016 - The production figures put together by DG Cinema and ANICA show an increase in average costs and the number of co-productions. State aid grew as did the use of tax credits

In 2015 fewer films were produced in Italy – 185 compared to 201 in 2014 – but total production costs went up – to €338.8 million in 2015 from €319.5 million in the previous year – as did the amount spent on co-productions: in 2015 €63.6 million was spent compared to €53.1 million in 2014. The data on film production in 2015, which was published this morning by the Italian Directorate-General for Cinema and ANICA, have an important new addition this year: along with the two categories of ‘films produced’ (or rather, films that have been awarded a ‘censorship certificate’) and ‘films of Italian initiative’ (or rather, films produced using entirely Italian capital and majority co-productions), is the new category of ‘admissible films’, or rather, those that have duly submitted their notice of commencement of work to the Italian Directorate-General for Cinema. Films falling into the new category of admissible films make up 76% of the total number of films produced (141 films), an increase on the 73% of 2014 (when 147 films were produced). 

Co-productions
Faced with the drop in the number of films being produced, the co-productions segment shows signs of growth: in 2015, the number of co-productions increased from 21 in 2014 to 28, as did the number of partner countries, from 11 to 19, with most co-productions still being made with France (17 in 2015 compared to 10 in 2014). The number of minority co-productions remained particularly modest: 6 out of 28 in 2015. 

Budget
The average overall cost of films of Italian initiative produced in 2015 superceded €2 million, representing a slight increase on the figure from the previous year, €1.9 million. The number of high-budget films, or rather, those costing more than €3.5 million, made in 2015, was 29 (compared to 25 in 2014), with an average cost of €5.8 million. There was a sharp increase in funding from external investors for which tax credits were requested, representing almost 30% of the total budget. The number of domestic tax credits also grew, covering approximately 13% of total costs.

Direct state aid accounted for approximately 8% of funding overall. Regional funding accounted for approximately 4%, whilst funding from abroad (Eurimages, MEDIA) made up just over 1% of the total amount. State funding (both direct and indirect) accounted for 20%, then there were the credits granted by the State to external investors who invest in production, which absorbed around 12% of the total costs, meaning that state aid covered 32% of the production costs of films of Italian initiative in 2015.

(Translated from Italian)