22/11/2002 - Icelandic legislation foresees 12% return on production costs for films made in the land of ice and hot springs

If you want to cut the cost of making your film – go to Iceland. To “enhance domestic culture and promote the history and nature of Iceland” the State Treasury will reimburse 12 per cent of all film and television productions, in addition to the 24.5 per cent levied as VAT. And, if an EU company allocates more than 80 per cent of a production in Iceland, it will receive 12 per cent of the whole budget. And best of all, the only condition is that you show up. “In Iceland you simply set up a camera and you have US$1 billion of free production design,” said American producer Jim Stark, who made Cold Fever, with Mystery Train star Masatoshi Nagase, in Iceland.
Even though international producers are advised to attach an Icelandic co-producer to their projects, that is not a condition but rather good advice for those who are not used to working in “our rather unusual nature and climate,” explained Film-in-Iceland CEO Ingi Ingason. The first international productions that benefited from the new legislation were Lara Croft Tomb Raider directed by American Simon West and No Such Thing by Hal Hartley. Most recently, Eon Productions returned to shoot an estimated $3 million (Euros 3million) worth of scenes for Die Another Day, the latest 007 film. The 250-man crew, 70 of whom were Icelanders, worked on locations at a glacial lagoon in Jokulsarton.