Cullen International has updated its benchmark of measures taken by governments, NRAs, and film agencies in 13 member states to mitigate the economic impact of the restrictions on the cinema and audiovisual industry.

Most of the countries covered have taken measures to compensate the closure of cinemas and the interruption of audiovisual and cinema production during lockdowns this spring, as well as to incentivise their restart under safety restrictions. The latest developments since the July edition of this Cullen International benchmark include:

• in Italy, a new round of direct subsidies for cinemas that must close from 26 October 2020. New support could also follow recent closure orders in France and Germany, where during the summer cinemas were respectively compensated for part of revenue losses and for investments into modern or heath-safety equipment.
• in Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK, new schemes (up to over €550m in the UK) to compensate for the lack of (Covid-19) insurance coverage. In Germany, the fund covers both personal risks, a quarantine order for crew and cast, and infrastructural risks such as an officially ordered lockdown.
• in Italy, the allocation of €100m to increase the existing (audiovisual and cinema production) tax credit for 2020. A tax credit up to 40% (with a €4m cap per work) is also granted to interrupted productions that could not be resumed.

In Ireland, a new funding round was dedicated to specifically support independent audiovisual producers and audiovisual productions from broadcasters. Other measures to support providers of audiovisual media services include in Italy, funds to incentivise investments by advertisers on commercial TV channels (by applying a 50% tax credit). These funds were further increased to €50m by the August recovery package. Other countries decided to provide direct support to public service broadcasters, local broadcasters or news providers in an effort to secure the provision of authoritative news in times of TV advertising losses.

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