Sicily launches €10.8m fund for film and TV productions

The Italian region of Sicily has unveiled plans to co-finance film and television productions with a fund of €10.8m ($11.6m) in a bid to boost employment and tourism on the island.

The fund will be managed by the Sicily Film Commission and will cover up to 20% of total production costs. The amount covers the 2022-23 period and will be allocated to feature films, TV series (including animation), documentaries and shorts.

The move is aimed at increasing the creative economy of the region through employment on productions and spend on local services. Projects that promote Sicily’s cultural and historical heritage are also hoped to boost local tourism.

Nicola Tarantino, director of the Sicily Film Commission, said the funding would “strengthen support for the development of [Sicily’s] supply chain and local audio-visual professions”.

Details were published today (May 27) in the Italian government’s official journal, Gazzetta Ufficiale, stating the funds would support productions that enhanced “local history, culture, landscape, traditions, food, wine and identity” and which also made a “positive economic and employment impact on Sicily”.

Films to shoot in Sicily in recent years include James Mangold’s untitled Indiana Jones project, which shot in the region for five weeks, and Working Title Films’ musical adaptation of Cyrano, directed by Joe Wright for MGM and Universal. The second season of Mike White’s HBO drama The White Lotus also filmed in the Sicilian town of Taormina earlier this year.

Applications will be open to production companies from any European Union nation that have been operational for at least two years. They can include producers, co-producers or associate producers. Those based outside the EU will require an executive production agreement with a company that is tax resident in the EU.

The fund will earmark €8.8m ($9.4m) for film and TV projects, up to €1.8m ($1.9m) for film and TV documentaries, and €200,000 ($215,000) for shorts.

Applications will be open during two windows this year: June 1-30 and September 1-30.

Italy’s tax credit for international productions amounts to 40% of eligible costs – up to 49% of total budget – of which 80% has to be spent in the territory. This can be combined with regional incentives.