16/03/2005

Regional Film Funds in Finland

Poem is the only regional film fund in Finland at the moment located in the City of Oulu in the North part of the country. Set up in September 2000 and headed since by Markku Flink, Poem has around 1million € a year to develop, sustain and promote the region’s film, TV and mobile game industry and culture. The biggest grant comes from the City of Oulu (40-50% of the annual budget), the rest being provided by the Council of Oulu region, including EU structural funding corresponding to a third to a quarter of Poem’s total budget.
According to Flink, the structure of Poem’s yearly budget will change this year as the fund will become a foundation. The key members (and owners) will be the City of Oulu, the Council of Oulu region, Oulu Polytechnic, some municipalities and private companies from the Northern part of Finland.

Splitting its yearly budget in four main areas: script support, project development, production, distribution and marketing, Poem has allocated between 0.4M€ to 0,7M€ to film production over the last four years with Poem’s direct financial contribution ranging from 5% to 10% of the overall budget of a production. Financing for the co-development is repayable loan and for the co-production equity investment.

In terms of number of projects and inward investment in the region, Poem has supported some 76 productions since 2000, with overall budgets ranging from 10,000 € to 1M€. More than 90% of the works originated from production companies based in Northern Finland.
Between 2000-2003, 4 feature films, 23 fictional short films, 24 TV documentaries/documentary films, 13 digital media productions and three TV series were made with Poem support. Among those productions were the 2001 local hit Rolli And The Spirit Of The Woods (Rölli ja metsänhenki) produced by MRP Matola Röhr Production which also won a local Oscar (Jussi Award) for Best Finnish film of the year. Another local and international success was made with poem support in 2003: the documentary Screaming Men (Huutajat) co-produced by Klaffi Productions in Finalnd and Zentropa Real in Denmark.
Last year, three European co-productions were developed with Poem support: Galplanet (UK/FIN/Swe), Maupertuis (Fin/Fr/Swe) and Drum (Fin/Nor/Swe) and this year the feature films that will start shooting include a Finnish/Swedish children film and a Finnish film.

Poem actively encourages co-productions and cross-border collaboration and has a strong relationship with regional funds throughout Europe, in particular in the Bothnia Arc region and Northern Scandinavia such as Filmpool Nord, the regional film fund in Luleå, Northern Sweden, and the North Norwegian Film Centre. Poem provides not only financial support but also technical and infrastructure support from the North Finland Screen Commission and access to local production companies who have experience in international co-production.
Foreign companies need to have a local co-producer from North Finland attached to their project. Part of the production has to be shot in the region and Poem prefers if the production has cultural links to Northern Finland or Scandinavia. 100% of the sum loaned by Poem has to be spent in the region.

In the future, Poem intends to raise its support to film production to 1M€ a year and to become a major regional film foundation and development center for film, TV and mobile games in Finland. (see interview with Markky Flink)