Philippines boosts film location incentive to 25% plus cultural bonus

Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has increased its incentive schemes for both international co-productions and offshore production.

The cash rebate for offshore productions is 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 boosted with the 5% cultural bonus capped at $540,000 (PHP30M). Qualifying formats for FLIP include features, animated and documentary films, TV and streaming series and virtual reality content. 

Per Deadline, Joierie Ann Pacumio, executive director of Film Philppines announced the changes during an event at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) earlier this week.

Pacumio said that the council will have two funding cycles per year — with the current one terminating this month and to expect an update this December.

The minimum qualifying spend to apply for the rebate is PHP20M for feature films and animation, PHP8M for docs, and PHP3M for short films and each episode of a series of eight episodes+.

FCDP has also consolidated 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 given $54,000-$180,000 (PHP3M-PHP10M) under ICOF; documentary funding will be limited to $18,000-$90,000 (PHP1M-PHP5M) and TV/VOD series will recieve $72,000-$180,000 (PHP4M-PHP10M) per season.

ICOF will also offer a series of bonuses – including an extra $18,000 (PHP1M) for certain ASEAN projects; a $35,000 (PHP2M) cultural bonus for feature films and series; and a $18,000 (PHP1M) cultural bonus for docs.