An inter-ministerial committee, which includes the Investment and Development Authority in the Ministry of Economy and Industry, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Foreign Ministry, this week approved requests of 12 Israeli production companies for grants of about NIS 23 million, submitted within the first round of the program in Israel.
With the publication of the new financial support track, 19 requests totaling NIS 51 million were received, reflecting the demand for the program - 2.2 times the budget allocated to the program. The applications submitted will result in investment in filming movie productions and television series in Israel totaling over NIS 172 million.
Round up the usual suspects
Among those productions that have been approved, we will soon see leading production corporations such as: Mediawan, Fremantle Media, Warner Bros. (WB), Emjag Productions, Viacom Showtime and other production corporations from Canada, USA, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and other countries.
The list of Israeli production companies that won funding during this round:
• Abot Hameiri Communications Ltd.
• Strawberries Productions (2004) Ltd.
• Green Productions -Kurland Greenspan Ltd.
• Split
• Snowball VFX Ltd.
• Spiro Films
• FIRMA Films
• udiVsagi Productions Ltd.
• Bustan Films Ltd.
• Hive Studio Jerusalem Ltd.
In 2023, the Investment Authority announced its intention to continue the program to encourage foreign productions in Israel. The government ministries which are partnering in the project believe that this important step will positively brand Israel throughout the world as a center for foreign movie and series production, thanks to the country’s unique natural resources and historic locations. The decision will also provide livelihoods to many Israelis who will work in the different productions.
Israel has many advantages in the field of movie and series production that include good infrastructure of facilities and production services, skilled professionals and an available pool of film graduates from leading international schools. Israel can be a significant center for foreign productions to film their movies in the country. Bringing foreign movie production into Israel will serve as a lever for the development of Israeli culture, incoming tourism as well as financial support, especially after the particularly difficult period caused by the pandemic.
It runs in the best families
Director, Investment and Development Authority Shlomo Attias, who heads the committee which selected the winning productions: “The program puts Israel in line with most countries of the world that provide assistance and incentives to encourage film production in their territory. In the course of our work, we have discovered the beautiful face of the Israeli film industry and the significant international interest in Israel. I hope our assistance will bring more and more foreign production companies to invest in Israel. I thank all our partners in the ministries of culture and sport, foreign affairs, finance and tourism.”
Galit Wahba Shasho – Director, Culture and Arts Administration in the Ministry of Culture and Sports: “We have worked for a long time with the various government ministries to produce a support mechanism to encourage movie and television series productions in Israel and today I am happy to announce that we have succeeded: twelve foreign productions from among the best international production companies have won the financial support. They will bring Israel’s magical landscapes to screens around the world. The foreign production support mechanism in Israel is a significant boost to our fine local workforce in the various fields of film production. Thank you to all our partners in this welcome initiative in the government offices.”
Director-General Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alon Ushpiz: “Thanks to the directive to encourage foreign movie productions, Israel has joined a prestigious club of countries that provide incentives for international productions to encourage them to film in their countries. In recent years, Israel has emerged as a television and cinematic content superpower and the Israeli story generates global interest and curiosity. In addition to promoting cooperation agreements in the field of cinema, the Foreign Ministry is working to strengthen bilateral and diplomatic connections through culture and the new directive will both strengthen the Israeli economy and encourage tourism, and present the beautiful face of Israel that we all know.”
Director, Marketing Administration, Tourism Ministry Pini Shani: “The Ministry of Tourism invests and encourages foreign movie production in Israel. It is well known that viewers are inclined to visit the places featured in the movies they enjoy, with movie stars they admire. Foreign movie productions will create another medium through which Israel will be exposed as an attractive tourism destination. The productions will offer broad exposure of Israel in an attractive way, to many different audiences around the world. The budgets that the Tourism Ministry allocated to support these foreign productions have justified the investment, and more so.”