Changes to the audiovisual sector production incentive coming in 2025
Business Finland invites larger international audiovisual productions to be implemented ín Finland with its appealing filming locations and production incentive. The government draft proposal for 2025 is 10 million euros. The goal is to accelerate the growth of export revenues.
The AV incentive aims to attract foreign audiovisual production companies to carry out productions in Finland and promotes international financing for domestic projects. The financing is discretionary and comes with minimum requirements, which are now being changed.
"A key objective of the production incentive is to grow export revenues through consumption generated in Finland by foreign productions and the export of domestic productions. To achieve this target, we have made changes to the minimum requirements for funding," says Product Manager Merja Salonen from Business Finland.
A few updates to the minimum requirements have been made for the year 2025
- The per-minute cost for scripted series-type fiction and animation production must be at least €11,500 (€9,500 for the years 2020–2024, €5,500 for the years 2017–2019).
- The expenditure generated in Finland by all productions covered by the incentive must be at least €500,000 (€350,000 in 2024).
- The total production budget for documentary films must be at least €650,000 (€600,000 in 2024).
"We want to encourage Finnish companies to utilize the incentive to attract foreign investments and implement even more extensive work projects in Finland. This would maximize the impact of the financing. As the sizes of projects grow, so does the expertise and infrastructure of the AV sector," says Salonen.
"The average per-minute price of productions funded by the incentive from 2017–2024 is over €11,500. Raising the minimum requirement to €11,500 is reasonable but necessary. For example, the per-minute prices of internationally successful TV series and animation productions are mostly over €20,000. The average expenditure generated in Finland by foreign productions are about €1.7 million. Raising the minimum requirements for costs incurred in Finland and increasing the total production budget for documentary films will enhance the effectiveness of the financing through larger projects," Salonen explains the changes.
Final budget decision in December
A budget of €10 million for the audiovisual production incentive for the year 2025 has been proposed in the government's draft budget proposal (See the budget proposal in Finnish). The state budget is approved by Parliament in December.
Applications for the 2024 authorization may still be submitted. The call for the year 2025 will open on January 2, 2025, at 8:15 AM.
What is the production incentive?
The audiovisual sector production incentive is intended for fictional feature films, documentary films, scripted series-type fictions, and animations. The AV production incentive is a maximum of 25% payment compensation for the costs of production carried out in Finland. Eligible costs are those directly incurred in Finland from the production of audiovisual works. The payment compensation can be applied for by Finnish or foreign production companies, as well as other audiovisual companies selected for the productions. The funding is granted by Business Finland. The granted funding is paid retrospectively against costs incurred and reported.
In 2024, the budget for the production incentive is €12 million.
Production incentive for audiovisual industry
Funded companies 2016–2024
(Select 'Instrument' from the Dimensions)
Further information
Product Manager
Merja Salonen
merja.salonen (at) businessfinland.fi
Advisor
Petteri Halme
petteri.halme (at) businessfinland.fi
Advisor
Laura Westerberg
laura.westerberg (at) businessfinland.fi
