ICA
ICA

Incentives and coproduction

Cash Rebate

We would like to inform all interested parties that 50% of the automatic allocation of the Portuguese Cash Rebate (2020) was reached, in accordance with the No. 7 of the Article 8 of the Administrative Rule No. 490/2018, September 28th, taken into account the approved amounts until this date.

Consequently, all applications for the Portuguese Cash Rebate granted by ICA, I.P. will be considered accordingly to the allocation rules provided by the No. 8 of the mentioned Article.



The Portuguese Film and Audiovisual Institute (ICA) is the national film agency that, through project funding, provides support for the development of the Portuguese film and audiovisual industry.

ICA manages the new film and TV production cash rebate funded by a Fund for Tourism and Cinema, created by Decree-Law No. 45/2018, june 19th, (Portuguese version of Decree-Law No. 45/2018), regulated by Ordinance Nr. 490/2018, which offers now one of the most attractive incentive schemes in Europe:

• Film, TV and VOD production - national and foreign (line/services), official and de facto co-productions;

• Minimum expenditure in Portugal: € 500.000 (fiction and animation) / € 250.000 (documentaries and post-production);

• Between 25% and 30% of eligible expenditure, depending on a Cultural Test and the characteristics of the project. Weighting factors: high economic impact in Portugal, expenses made in low density territories, hiring actors/technicians with disabilities;

• "First come first served” basis;

• Upfront payments in instalments.

Eligible expenditure: you can check here the Incentive’s Guidelines on eligible expenditure.

ICA announces that, temporarily, requests for provisional recognition should be sent by email to picportugal@ica-ip.pt (20 MB limit), in the following terms:

1.    In the body of the message:

• Identification of the applicant and of the other co-producers, if any, or of the foreign producer, if it is a foreign production;

• Identification and technical description of the work, indicating the expected duration, shooting format and final format of the work;

• Dates and places of production and post-production.


2. In separate annexes (total limit of 20 MB), all the documents referred to in Article 14 (4) of that Regulation and other documents necessary to establish the characteristics of the project and of the production which are decisive for the classification of the project in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation.

The documents referred to in Article 14 (4) (b) of the Regulation shall be sent in the original Portuguese version or, in the case of a project in a foreign language, in one of the following languages: English, French or Spanish.

Contracts or other documents referred to in Article 14 (4) (b) of the Regulation shall be sent in Portuguese or, where the originals are in a foreign language, in English, French or Spanish.

Subsidies

The ICA manages more than twenty support (subsidy) schemes, including: development (film and TV); production (film and TV), distribution, exhibition, festivals, film literacy, promotion, etc.
Film production support includes feature and short films, documentaries, animation, minority coproductions and coproductions with Portuguese speaking countries. See full yearly plan with amounts here.

90% or more of the available amount for film production is granted on a selective basis.

Emphasis is put on supporting first/second films by new directors.

Yearly budget (2019) for the subsidy schemes: ca. € 20,6 million.

More on the ICA subsidy schemes: calls for projects’ Regulations (in Portuguese only) here; lists of supported projects here.

Coproduction

Portugal is a Party in 9 bilateral film coproduction treaties (with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe). A film coproduction treaty with Israel has been signed recently and negotiations with China and India are under way.

Besides, Portugal is a Party in the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Coproduction and in the Iberoamerican Coproduction Agreement.

This means that coproducing with Portuguese partners is opening doors to possible coproductions with more than 50 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

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