Hungarian 30% film tax incentive, used by ‘The Brutalist', ‘Maria', extended

Hungary has extended its successful film production incentive for a further six years, through to 2030, with a projected $3bn budget.

The incentive, which was set to expire at the end of 2024, has been approved by the European Commission. It will continue at the current rate, through which film and TV projects produced in Hungary are eligible for 30% tax rebate based on their expenditure in the country.

Hungary has reached $910m direct annual film production spend across the past year – four times an increase in volume across the last five years.

Recent films to have used the country for production purposes include Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, and upcoming awards season contenders The Brutalist by Brady Corbet and Maria by Pablo Larrain.

Csaba Kael, government commissioner for the development of the Hungarian film industry, announced the extended incentive at an inaugural Made In Hungary event in Los Angeles this week, and noted that 2024 is the 20^th anniversary of the Hungarian incentive – the first of its kind in Central Europe.

“This extension allows us to build on our success and deepen our commitment to take the Hungarian moving picture industry to a whole new level,” said Kael.

Previous films to have benfitted from the incentive include A Good Day To Die Hard, The Martian and Terminator: Dark Fate.

Hungary’s National Film Institute also presented the first Best International Production Filmed in Hungary prize to Poor Things at the event.

Further awards handed out by the Made In Hungary event included best actress to Franciska Toroczik for Cat Call, best actor to Laszlo Szacsvay for Some Birds and best picture to White Plastic Sky.

The incentive extension comes as the country’s Budapest International Film Festival launched a film fund for supporting a Hungarian feature from script through to release. The fund aims to raise €500,000 to €1m across its first year, including through contributions from international productions shooting in the country.

This story originally appeared on our sister site Screen