The Serbian Government has adopted a Regulation on incentives for investors in audiovisual works.
According to the Regulation, foreign filmmakers can expect a refund of 25% of the funds spent in Serbia for their projects next year. The exception applies to productions planning to invest more than 5,000,000 euros in Serbia, for which they will receive a 30% refund from the Serbian budget, as reported by Blic.
The funds allocated for these purposes will be non-refundable and approved by a special Commission. To qualify for this incentive, a foreign production is required to spend at least 300,000 euros for a feature film or TV movie, and 150,000 euros per episode for a TV or animated series. The same amount is designated for dedicated and animated films, audio or visual post-production of audiovisual works, while for documentary films and TV programs, the stipulated amount is 50,000 euros.
The Serbian Government has also defined additional criteria for eligibility to receive state funding for production. For instance, in the case of feature films, TV movies, or feature-length documentaries, their duration must be a minimum of 70 minutes. For TV series, it is required that they have a minimum of three episodes, each being 40 minutes in length.
Within the regulation, specific criteria have been defined
Additionally, there are clauses specifying that funds cannot be allocated to projects that damage the reputation of the Republic of Serbia or those that promote human rights violations and hate speech in their content. This is a significant condition that will be thoroughly checked, and if such content is identified in a project, even previously concluded contracts may be terminated.
Simultaneously, it is mandatory for the credits of the audiovisual work or the marketing campaign supported under the regulation’s incentive to include information stating that it received financial support from the Republic of Serbia.
Our source from Nemanjina 11 reports that the practice of such financial incentives has shown remarkably positive results, which is why the Serbian government is committed to continuing these initiatives.
