21/12/2005

Yesterday evening, as announced, in order to adapt to the European norms, the French Senate voted for an amendment changing the French tax credit system for film and TV production. From the 1st of January, the producers of features and TV films acknowledged as French (either fictions, documentaries, or animation films) will benefit from a tax credit of a value of 20% of the production money spent in France (within the limits of 80% of the budget, or 80% of the money invested by the French co-producer if it is an international movie) which can never exceed 1 million euros for features and 1150 euros per minute for TV cartoons.
To be eligible for this tax credit, a film has to be entirely or mainly shot in French (or in a French regional language) and must take place mostly in France (a decree will specify in which cases an exception can be made, based on justified artistic considerations). It has to have been accepted for the production support fund organised by the CNC and must contribute to the development of artistic creation in France and Europe as well as enhance diversity. The new tax credit, which can obviously not apply to pornography, commercials or violent material, now includes the price of the salaries of the authors, actors, artistic and production staff, and all technical operators. Furthermore, any European citizen can now access certain positions as interpreter, author and artistic or production staff.
It is also worth underlining that the tax credit for one work cannot make the total amount of public money granted to that film represent more than 50% of the budget (60% for difficult or low-budget films, defined by decree).

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(Translated from French)