During its annual Philippine Cinema Night at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) held last October 6 at the Haeundae Rooftop Bar, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) revealed its biggest news yet as it launched two (2) new film incentives to encourage international film productions to shoot and work in the Philippines. The incentive program was also announced during the welcome reception at the Asian Film Market last October 5.

Aimed to offer a holistic shooting experience in the country, the location incentive schemes under the banner of FilmPhilippines give financial support to both international productions and co-productions with Filipino producers who will spend at least 8 Million Pesos ($154,000 USD) in the Philippines for their film's production and post-production. These programs, paired with FDCP’s "Let’s Create Together" campaign supported by the Department of Tourism (DOT) where the Philippines is showcased as a country and an industry open to produce meaningful, entertaining, and incredible content, are the agency's next step to going global with the audiovisual industry.

Full feature films in any genre and format—live-action, documentary, animation, short films, television series, web content series, or content for other distribution platforms—in partnership with a duly-registered Philippine line producer may apply for the  Film Location Incentive Program (FLIP).

On the other hand, international production for full feature live-action, documentary, or animation films can enter a co-production deal with a duly-certified Philippine producer or production company may apply for the International Co-Production Fund (ICOF).

Eligible projects at the pre-production, production, or post-production stage with a minimum production expenditure of PHP 8 million ($155,000) in the Philippines qualify for the incentives. Upon approval, a cash rebate of between 10% and 40% of qualifying production costs with a cap of up to PHP 10 million ($193,000) may be availed through FLIP or ICOF.

Eligible spend for the incentive schemes covers artist and technician fees, equipment rental, crew, film permits, accommodation, transport, and food expenses spent in the Philippines.

Applications for both incentive schemes will be open by January 2020.

“There is no better way to underscore the celebration of the One Hundred Years of Philippine Cinema than to finally give our Filipino filmmakers and the Philippines the leverage that it needs to be globally competitive,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño. Meanwhile, on a Facebook post, she also expressed her anticipation for the incentive schemes. She stated, “I'm excited to share this with the world because we have been lobbying for this since I started my term as head of this agency. I believe Busan is the perfect platform to launch this exciting program.”  FDCP expects a heightened artistic and technical exchange between Filipino film workers and the rest of the world’s film professionals through this program, as well as a surge in tourism revenues and business investments months after this incentive program is launched.

The FDCP led a huge Filipino delegation this year at the Busan IFF and AFM as it continues to celebrate its 100 Years of Philippine Cinema. Around 95 delegates participating in various events in and around BIFF are 16 film companies at AFM, six Filipino films at BIFF, three projects at the Asian Project Market, three projects at the Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet) Cine-Link of ASIA, one project in FLY Film Lab, and four delegates in Platform BUSAN. There are also Filipino delegates in Asian Film Academy and government delegates from various agencies championing the audiovisual industry, such as the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Details about the FilmPhilippines Incentives can be found at www.filmphilippines.com