Thailand launches 20% production incentive

Source: Screendaily.com

The Thai government has approved a rebate for international productions that spend at least $1.5m.

Thailand has finally secured government approval for production incentives in the form of a 15-20% cash rebate on qualifying local spend.

Expected to kick in from January 2017, the incentive offers a 15% rebate on international productions that spend at least $1.5m in the country, with a yet-to-be determined upper limit to prevent a single big-budget production from emptying the pot.

An additional 3% is available for films that use key Thai cast or crew when shooting in the country and a further 2% for films that have particular value in promoting Thailand.

Thailand’s deputy prime minister Tanasak Patimapragorn and Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul were both in Cannes to announce the incentive. “We’ve been working very hard to come up with this scheme and we hope you’ll look at Thailand in a new light. We’re committed to making our country a dream destination for everybody,” said Wattanavrangkul.

Thailand is already one of Asia’s most popular filming locations – recent productions to shoot in the country include The Mechanic and Chinese thriller Battle Of Memories – but has been facing competition from countries that offer incentives such as Australia and Malaysia.

The Thai government has been working on an incentives scheme for several years. The new incentive will be managed by the Thailand Film Office, working with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce.

In 2015, a total of 63 feature films shot in Thailand compared to 41 the previous year. Nine features have filmed in Thailand in the first three months of 2016.

'Baaghi' official trailer featuring Tiger Shroff-Shraddha Kapoor is out now

 

The much-awaited trailer of the movie "Baaghi," starring Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor, is out now!

Line produced by Benetone Films, the film was shot in the beautiful mountain locations and beaches of Thailand.

The trailer features a combination of action sequences, romance, and daring stunts from Shraddha and Tiger showing off his impressive high flying, crazy kicks and punches.

The film is slated to release on 29th April 2016.

Benetone Films to line produce Unveil Studios' "She Has A Name"

Another EXCITING NEWS from Benetone Films!!

We recently had the pleasure of line producing the film "She Has A Name" with Unveil Studios from Canada. It was a fantastic 16-days of shooting and collaborating.

"She Has A Name" is based on the critically acclaimed stage play by Andrew Kooman. It tackles the chilling subject of human trafficking in South East Asia and explores the layers of corruption that enable the sex tourism industry to thrive.

Unveil Studios is working with different human trafficking organizations for the film, so stay tuned as we keep you posted on its progress.

The Latest Effort in Luring Filmmakers to Thailand - Thailand International Film Festival 2013

Thailand International Film Destination Festival which debuted from April 1 to April 10 was part of an effort to promote the country’s exotic settings and production facilities to the international screen industry.  Thus it came to no surprise that the movies screened during the festivals were the ones that were filmed in Thailand, headlined of which were the dystopian backpacker film, The Beach and the raunchy comedy, The Hangover 2.

(For the list of the films, click here)

The event included a one day seminar held on April 5^th at Centara Grand, Bangkok with two discussion panel sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with local well known figures from the film production in discussion with the foreign guests. Mr. Kulthep Narula represented Benetone Films which have had experience in the field for over a decade.

The morning session hosted two well known location managers from Hollywood, Mr. Michael John Meehan (Pirates of theCaribbean trilogy, Master and Commander: Far Side of The World, Oblivion and etc.) and Mr. Mike Fantasia (The Amazing Spider-Man, Catch Me If You Can and etc. ), Mr. Daniel Zirilli, a young filmmaker who has directed and/or produced over 250 music videos. The afternoon session hosted producer Mr. Andrew Pfeffer (Bangkok Dangerous, Running Scared and etc.), director and cinematographer Mr. Adam Kane (Formosa Betrayed, multi episodes of Heroes and etc.) and actor, producer and writer Mr. Will Tiao (Formusa Betrayed and etc.)

The local speakers besides Mr. Kulthep were actor, producer and writer Mr. Jude S. Walko and producer Ms. Sasisupa Sungvaribud who is also the president of the Film Production Services Association.

Even though, the sessions were dominated by different concerns, there was however one common issue that was raised and discussed extensively: lack of incentives in Thailand for the foreign productions. All of the guests concurred that while Thailand is an attractive option for the filmmakers, thanks largely to the exotic locations, professional and hard working crew, excellent infrastructure and film production services, its lack of incentives is hurting the business that the country should have been getting.

In our next blog, we will detailed the discussions and explore more on the issue of the incentives.

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