Cinema and Audiovisual Sector

The "Cinema and Audiovisual law" provided automatic contributions (Articles 23-25), a line of intervention addressed exclusively to Italian audiovisual companies, for the sole purpose of reinvesting in the development, production and distribution of new audiovisual works meeting the requirements for Italian nationality and eligibility cultural.
They can access the contributions:
- producers;
- in the case of television works, access is restricted to independent producers only;
- cinema distributors in Italy;
- international distributors;
- home entertainment publishers.

In addition, selective contributions are one of the main tools prepared by Law no. 220 (Art. 26). The implementing decree of 31 July 2017, then amended with two measures subsequent to January and March 2019 (read the decree / read the amendments), generally defines the requirements of the works and recipients and the application and selection procedures. The details are referred to the annual calls dedicated to the various purposes envisaged by the law, in order to ensure the greatest possible clarity.

There are several lines of intervention:
1. Script writing
Recipients: Italian and European citizens fiscally resident in Italy
Purpose: to promote the writing of screenplays (original or taken from other non-audiovisual works) of cinematographic, television and web works.

2. Development and pre-production
Recipients: Italian and European film and audiovisual companies resident in Italy for tax purposes and qualifying as independent producers.
Purpose: to support the development and pre-production of cinematographic, television and web works, video games.

3. Production
Recipients: Italian and European film and audiovisual companies resident in Italy for tax purposes and qualifying as independent producers.
Purpose: to support the production of works of Italian nationality (see decree of the President of the Council of Ministers), identified as follows:
- first and second cinematographic works or by young authors, with precise budget guidelines;
- cinematographic works of particular artistic quality, with precise budget guidelines;
- "difficult" cinematographic works with a production cost of less than 1.5 million Euro;
- documentaries, with a production cost of less than 1 million Euro;
- short films, with a production cost of less than 200,000 Euro);
- animation works, without budget specifications.

4. National distribution of cinematographic works
Recipients: Italian and European film and audiovisual companies resident in Italy for tax purposes.
Purpose: to support the distribution of works of Italian nationality, identified as follows:
- first and second cinematographic works, by young authors,
- "difficult" made with modest financial assets, of particular artistic quality;
- difficult cinematographic works, with modest financial resources, and of particular artistic quality that have had access to selective benefits;
- documentaries;
- short films;
- animation film.

5. International distribution of cinematographic and television works
This type of grant is awarded by Istituto Luce - Cinecitta which, after consulting the trade associations and the Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE), issues one or more calls approved by decree by the General Directorate of Cinema. These calls are aimed at Italian sellers, international distributors, film and audiovisual producers, in support of activities of:
- international theatrical distribution of Italian cinematographic works;
- participation of Italian cinematographic and audiovisual works in the main international markets;
- internationalization of Italian production companies, especially if they are small, through participation in festivals and markets of international importance, in commercial and / or institutional missions.

6.Cinema exercise
Recipients: cinema operating companies with the requirements of newly established micro enterprises or located in municipalities with a population of less than 15,000 inhabitants.
Purpose: to support the activities of diffusion of cinematographic culture, characterized by being rooted in the reference territory; initiatives to involve young people; implementation of particular initiatives aimed at promoting cultural entertainment for people with disabilities or pathologies such as to prevent normal use of audiovisual works; implementation of particular initiatives aimed at the cultural and social integration of subjects with problems of marginalization; multiprogramming strategies.
The evaluation of the projects and the assignment of the contribution are carried out by a commission specifically designated every three years by MIBACT, composed of well-known experts with proven professional qualifications in the film and audiovisual sector, and divided into three sub-commissions for the evaluation of projects.
Each year the call defines the endowment of each line of intervention and subcategory of work. For each line of intervention, at least 15% of the available resources is reserved for newly established companies and networks.
Furthermore, within the framework of the provisions supporting the implementation of the legislation on cinema and audiovisual, it is also possible to access the so-called "digital tax credit". Cinema exhibitors can benefit from a tax credit equal to 30% of the total expenses incurred for:
- purchase of digital projection and reproduction equipment;
- purchase of systems and equipment for signal reception staff training;
- restructuring and conformation of the projection booths and systems.
The implementation of the measure, allowed also the promotion or renewal of several co-production and co-distribution cooperation, as follows:
- Bilateral Fund for the development and co-production of Franco film works and Audiovisual series (2019);
- Cinematographic co-production agreement between ITaly and the Federative Republic of Brazil (since 2018).