Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has tweaked its incentive schemes for both international co-productions and offshore production, with the latter cash rebate being increased to 25% with the addition of a cultural bonus.
Philippines currently offers a 20% incentive through its Film Location Incentive Program (FLIP), which is now being augmented with the 5% cultural bonus capped at $540,000 (PHP30M). Eligible formats for FLIP include features, animated and documentary films, TV and streaming series and virtual reality content.
The miniumum qualifying spend to apply for the rebate is PHP20M for feature films and animation, PHP8M for documnetary and PHP3M for short films and each episode of a series of eight episodes or more.
FCDP has also combined its International Co-production Fund (ICOF) and Asean Co-production Fund (ACOF) into a single ICOF fund that has three separate funding caps for different formats.
Feature films will be awarded $54,000-$180,000 (PHP3M-PHP10M) under ICOF; documentary funding will be capped at $18,000-$90,000 (PHP1M-PHP5M) and TV/VOD series will be awarded $72,000-$180,000 (PHP4M-PHP10M) per season.
ICOF will also offer a series of bonuses – including an additional $18,000 (PHP1M) for selected ASEAN projects; a $35,000 (PHP2M) cultural bonus for feature films and series; and a $18,000 (PHP1M) cultural bonus for documentary.
The changes were announced today at an event at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM). FDCP’s Joierie Ann Pacumio, executive director of Film Philppines, also explained that the council will have two funding cycles per year, with the current one closing in October and an announcement expected in December.
FDCP has brought a delegation of producers, filmmakers and distributors to Busan, where the festival is screening Brilliante Mendoza’s Moro in the Jiseok competition and Lav Diaz’ Essential Truths Of The Lake in the Icons section.
