France Seeks to Woo Foreign Film-makers

Emma Vandore - Associated Press

PARIS - It began with a violent, perplexing death in the Louvre, and it ended with a flood of tourists tracking the Holy Grail.

Paris milked Da Vinci Code mania for all it was worth back in 2006 - and is hoping for similar windfalls with a new tax break designed to attract foreign movie makers to France. The goal is to win movie business away from Britain, Germany and low-cost Eastern European countries.

Parliament will vote next week on an amendment that could slash movie costs by up to euro4 million ($5.29 million) for productions 'made in France.'

Film makers will be able to claim tax credits for 20 percent of production expenses incurred in France, if the amendment is voted by parliament next week. In a preliminary step, it was approved by the Senate on Tuesday.

The measures are designed to counter competition from Germany and Britain, which both offer tax incentives to film makers, and from the lower costs in Eastern Europe.

"It is very urgent to get this measure in place," said Thierry de Segonzac, president of the French film federation FICAM. "We are losing a lot of films, including those which are set in France."

Universal Studios producer Chris Meledandri is spending euro20 million in France making the animation film "Despicable Me" - with Steve Carell set to voice the lead character. But he said it's becoming difficult to justify spending money on French creative talent.

"The competitive pressure to keep jobs at home, and incentives from virtually every other country with an animation culture, means it would be impossible to do it again given the financial pressures that we are under" in the current set-up, he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.

To benefit from the tax breaks, film makers must show something distinctively French in the film - a backdrop of the Eiffel tower for example.

Meledandri says the draft legislation would exclude his animation films, which aren't set in any particular place, and he wants law makers to consider amending their proposal.

Britain has been offered tax incentives to filmmakers since 1992. Since January 2007, filmmakers who are either British or who feature predominantly British content can get back from the government up to 20 percent of the total amount they spend in Britain.

France has a long history of supporting its domestic film output with a range of subsidies and other enticements to ward off competition from Hollywood. But in recent years, it has become a less attractive destination.

De Segonzac is mourning the loss of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming movie "Inglorious Basterds," which he said was shot in Germany for budget reasons even though the World War II adventure took place in France. He has been lobbying government for three years to change the law.

FICAM estimates that France could attract ten times more foreign movie money if the law is changed. Supplying the catering, accommodation and travel needs of film crews and paying their salaries could add up to euro250 million ($330.38 million) to the French economy each year, de Segonzac said.

That's not counting the promotional impact of films such as The Da Vinci Code which, together with the book, attracted so many tourists to Paris that it created a cottage industry offering tours.

American director Sofia Coppola was given full access to Versailles for her 2006 "Marie Antoinette," in the hopes that the film would draw extra visitors to the chateau outside Paris.

"We are a country with a heavy tax burden," said Philippe Dominato, a senator with the ruling UMP party who proposed the amendment. "France has its own special charm and we don't want that to be overshadowed by fiscal considerations."

The amendment was added to France's 2009 budget, which is already bursting at the seams as the government tries to cushion the blow of the economic crisis with money for auto makers and construction.

Budget Minister Eric Woerth said during the Senate debate that the government supports the proposed tax break, as it is likely to bring new money to France that would not have been taxed otherwise.

----

More movie news

Movie reviews 

Copyright 2012 by Associated Press