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Sony Pictures Entertainment sees Greece for new productions

By Harry Floudopoulos

2021 has been one of the best years in terms of foreign investment in recent years, with the government estimating that 2022 will move even better. According to data reported by the Minister of Development Ad. Georgiadis, in 2021 there was an 18-year record in foreign direct investment, while for 2022 investments are expected to reach a record high of 25 years.

The list of major foreign investments that have been made in Greece recently includes big names such as Google, Pfizer, Meta – Facebook, Amazon, Cosco, Digita Realty etc.

A few days ago, during the Energizing Greece conference, Mr. Georgiadis revealed the interest for Greece from another giant of the entertainment industry. The reason for Sony Pictures, the production company behind global movie hits such as Spiderman, James Bond, Men in Black, Karate Kid, Robocop and hundreds more.

According to Mr. Georgiadis, during his trip to Boston he had the opportunity to meet with a high-ranking executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment, who expressed his desire for the company to invest in Greece. Greece is the “next big thing”, the Sony executive told the Greek minister, who according to information expressed interest in making new film producers in our country.

Motivation and friendly context

The extremely friendly institutional framework and the incentives provided by the Greek state for the realization of foreign producers in Greece have played an important role in the effort to attract foreign investments in the entertainment industry in recent years. It is noted that our country has adopted an extremely friendly institutional framework to attract film producers, introducing the famous cash rebate investment incentive.

Specifically, a program of cash discounts is implemented to attract the production of films, TV series, documentaries, cartoons and digital games in Greece. With the approval of Law 4704/2020, the Greek cash rebate now amounts to 40%, while new subsidy provisions for high-budget productions related to projects with eligible costs over 8 million euros offer the possibility for foreign production to include labor tariffs for non-residents. The value of foreign invoices may not exceed 50% of the total eligible costs included in the investment plan (excluding VAT), while the total state subsidy may not exceed 12 million euros.

According to the data of EKOME (National Center for Audiovisual Media and Communication), in almost three years, from April 2019 to February 2022, a total of 204 projects have been subject to the cash rebate investment incentive. The investment in our country is estimated at approximately 316 million euros. Of the total projects that have been subject to the cash rebate, 92 projects were international productions or co-productions of Greek companies and production companies from Europe, the USA, Asia, Canada and Australia. From the shootings that take place in more than 140 locations across the country, about 49,201 jobs have been created.

Source: Capital

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