A successful year for filmmakers: more than 17.8 mln Euro collected by taking advantage of the Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive

A successful year for filmmakers: more than 17.8 mln Euro collected by taking advantage of the Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive

The Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive has yet again broken the records of success – in 2022 the investment has grown significantly, the number of film projects taking advantage of it has increased, as well as the number of international film projects in Lithuania.

According to the data of the Lithuanian Film Centre, the usage of the Film Tax Incentive is increasing each year. Last year filmmakers received more than 17.8 mln Euro of gratuitous investments by taking advantage of the Incentive. Compared with the great results of 2021 the sum of financial aid has grown by 18%. That is the highest sum received through the whole period since the Incentive has been in place.

In just one year, the number of financed films has increased too. Last year, a total of 85 new films that benefited from the Incentive were financed: between those, there were 63 national, 13 foreign and 9 co-production film projects.

In 2022 Lithuania was once again extremely attractive to the international film industry. Thanks to the smooth operation of the Tax Incentive, the high quality of Lithuanian film services and attractive locations, 13 foreign projects were developed in our country last year. As many as 7 of them are film projects from the Scandinavian region: 2 Swedish, 2 Finnish and 3 Norwegian. Another 4 projects were filmed in Lithuania by teams from the United Kingdom and 2 from Germany.

Last year foreign film producers spent as much as 35.3 million Euros in Lithuania

Most investments in 2022 were collected by the German science fiction project Paradise (2.75 million euros) and the Swedish project based on A. Lindgren's book Ronja (2.1 million euros), which will also be filmed in Lithuania this year. Both projects are scheduled to appear on Netflix. 

In 2022 foreign projects spent a total of 35.3 million Euros, in 2021 – 37.9 million in 2020 – 26.96 million, in 2019 – 14.98 million in 2018 – 37.21 million.

The Lithuanian Film Center notes the stability of companies willing to invest. In 2022, a total of 185 investment certificates were issued to 110 investors. It shows that businesses trust the incentive more and more, understand its operation and therefore decide to allocate larger sums.

A total of 269 Lithuanian companies have already invested in film production during the years 2014-2022, resulting in a total of 68.6 million raised. During the nine years of its operation, the incentive was used to finance 371 films: investments were allocated to 207 national film projects, 85 foreign films and 79 co-production film projects.

The purpose of the Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive which came into force in 2014 is to create favourable conditions for filmmaking in Lithuania. It can be taken advantage of by a Lithuanian business, by providing financial aid for filmmaking and thus reducing their taxable income and income tax. 

This incentive not only creates better conditions for filmmaking in Lithuania but is also beneficial to other sectors. The growing scale of film projects provides thousands of places of temporary employment, the hotel occupancy increases due to arrival of film crews from abroad, café, restaurant businesses benefit from the visiting crews as well, just like the transportation and vehicle hire sectors.

The Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive is valid until December 31 of this year. The Lithuanian Film Center has appealed to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, proposing to make decisions as soon as possible regarding the extension of this benefit for at least another 5-year period. 

A successful concession that attracts investments from foreign companies in Lithuania probably has the potential to attract even larger-scale film production. Quicker decisions regarding the extension of the concession would allow proper preparation for the implementation of projects already next year and would ensure an unstoppable flow of foreign investments in Lithuania.