Film production in Lithuania attracted more than €25 million in investments through the Film Tax Incentive in 2025

The Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive, which has been in effect in Lithuania since 2014, reached record results last year. Film productions received €25.6 million in investments from Lithuanian companies and the number of films benefiting from the incentive increased by one-fifth compared to 2024.

The Film Tax Incentive creates favourable conditions for both Lithuanian and foreign creators to shoot films in Lithuania. Local companies can use the incentive by allocating funds to film production on a non-repayable basis in exchange of a reduced corporate income tax.

According to the Lithuania Film Centre, in 2025 film productions using the Film Tax Incentive received €25.6 million in investments from Lithuanian companies. This amount was nearly 42% higher than in 2024 and almost 22% higher than in 2023, which had previously been the most successful year to date.

“The Film Tax Incentive has been significantly contributing to the growth of the Lithuania’s film industry for more than a decade. Since 2014, Lithuanian companies have provided more than €133 million in investments. These investments enable more films to be made in Lithuania, broaden opportunities to attract foreign filmmakers, and support the creation of new jobs. It consistently strengthens Lithuania’s position as an attractive film production hub in the region,” says Laimonas Ubavičius, Head of the Lithuanian Film Centre.

Last year, 108 films benefited from the incentive (89 in 2024 and 101 in 2023), including 68 national films, 21 co-productions, and 19 service projects. National films received €5.3 million, co-productions €3.6 million, and service projects €16.7 million. Compared to 2024, the number of foreign projects saw the strongest growth, while the number of co-productions more than doubled. Over more than a decade, the incentive has supported the production of a total of 669 films.

According to Deimantas Saladžius, Head of the Film Production Department at the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Film Tax Incentive also has a noticeable impact on the national economy: “Thanks to the incentive, foreign filmmakers spent nearly €56 million in Lithuania in 2025 – €17 million more than the previous year and €13 million more than in 2023. Local and international projects carried out in Lithuania not only strengthen the skills of the country’s film professionals, but also generate broader economic benefits: higher tax revenues and growing employment in sectors not directly related to filmmaking, such as hospitality, catering, retail and entertainment.”

Due to the well-functioning incentive, the high quality of services provided, and a wide range of filming locations, Lithuania remains an attractive destination to foreign productions. In 2025, the largest share of foreign projects came from the Scandinavian countries, with three Swedish, three Danish, and one Norwegian production. In recent years, four German projects have been filmed in Lithuania annually. Last year, four projects were also filmed by Latvian filmmakers, while one project each came from the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Israel.

Last year, the largest amount of investment – €6.9 million – was attracted by the first season of the U.S. series Star City. The German series Mozart/Mozart ranked second with €1.5 million, while the Polish film Riot (Bunt), produced by Netflix and based on true events, came third with €1.135 million in investment.

Among national projects, the fourth season of the animated series Stomp! Stomp! Rhinos! (Smalsučiai), produced by OAK9 Entertainment, received the highest amount of investment through the incentive – €643,000. Among the co-productions, the largest investment (€527,000) was attracted by the Artbox project The Excursion (Ekskursija), made together with Norway and Sweden.

Over the past year, 255 investment certificates were issued to 172 investors. Since the launch of the incentive, a total of 436 Lithuanian companies have invested in film production. In 2025, 67 companies used the incentive for the first time – 63% more than in 2024. At the same time, growing business trust is also evident: as many as 105 companies re-invested in 2025. The largest single investment by one company in single project last year amounted to €1.3 million.

Picture by Audrius Solominas.