Tuesday 6 December marks the start of the 8th edition of Focus - The Meeting Place for International Production. The event, held at the Business Design Centre in London, targets professionals from the audiovisual industry and is dedicated to locations, national and regional funding opportunities, facilities and services for film shoots. Thanks to the partnership between MAECI, DG Cinema e Audiovisivo MiC (Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture DGCA-MiC), Agenzia ICE (Italian Trade Commission), Cinecittà and Italian Film Commissions, and the participation of APE-Associazione Produttori Esecutivi (Italian Association of Executive Producers) Italy will be present at Focus 2022 with a stand promoting the exceptional locations, technical industries and assistance for international co-productions that the country offers.
Visitors to the Padiglione Italia (Italian Booth) will discover Italy for Movies (www.italyformovies.it), the portal for locations and production incentives managed by Cinecittà in collaboration with Italian Film Commissions and coordinated by DGCA-MiC. A versatile, flexible tool that is also available as an app, it offers information on tax credits and funds to support productions in Italy. The space will also host 7 regional film commissions (Genoa-Liguria, Veneto, Rome-Lazio, Valle d’Aosta, Trentino, Calabria, Sardinia) who will be promoting their territories and resources and 6 executive production and technical companies showcasing their services at Focus. Cinecittà will also be present to promote the Studios following a prestigious renovation project in recent years that has launched virtual production using LED Volume. Many international productions have selected to shoot at Cinecittà, including Angelina Jolie’s Without Blood based on the novel by Alessandro Baricco, starring Salma Hayek and Demiàn Bichir, and Edward Verger’s Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, to name but two.
A presentation entitled Filming in Italy is Simply Extraordinary: The Italian Audiovisual System at a Glance, scheduled for 11.30 a.m. on 7 December will showcase the above, with remarks from Giovanni Sacchi, Director of Italian Trade Commission London Office; Roberto Stabile Head of International Department, Anica, and of Special Projects, DGCA-MiC; Rossella Gaudio Analyst and consultant on Regulatory Changes, DGCA-MiC; Lucia Milazzotto Marketing and Sales Director, Cinecittà; Cristina Priarone President, Italian Film Commissions; and Roberto Fedrigoni, APE.
The Ministry of Culture has earmarked just under €750 million for the Cinema and Audiovisual Fund in 2022 with €544milion for fiscal incentives, €40 million for automatic contributions, €44 million for selective contributions, €90.6 million for cinema and audiovisual promotion, €22.5 million to strengthen industry specialization and €4 million for small-medium companies to make audiovisual products and films (source: Ministry of Culture).
The recent increase in tax band for domestic production, now 40% for films and up to 40% for TV and internet products, has made Italy particularly attractive to international productions as the 217 co-productions financed by DGCA- MiC in 2021 attest. The 2022 tax credit session, for domestic productions of films, research and training, TV, internet and music videos, will be open for submissions until 31 December.