The Malta FilmCommission Act, which came into force on July 15, has already attracted a raftof high-profile international films to the island, led by Steven Spielberg's Munichand now a confirmed one-week shoot for The Da Vinci Code thisNovember.

Under the terms of theAct, the Malta Film Commission is empowered to grant fiscal and financialincentives to the industry. Since the measures were first promoted in February,one production has already filmed in Malta, with two currently shooting andthree more confirmed for later this year..

The most high-profile title to benefit to date is Steven Spielberg's Munich,about the aftermath of the killings of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympicsin Munich. Scheduled for release by Universal Pictures on December 23 thisyear, Munich will shoot in Malta for more than 5 weeks, after which theproduction will move to Hungary and New York. Various locations around theislands are being used by the production and Malta will be doubling for eightMediterranean countries..

Meanwhile, it has now been confirmed that The Da Vinci Code, the filmadaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel directed by Ron Howard, will shooton the island for a week in November..

Other titles receiving Malta Film Commission backing include docu-drama Blackbeard,produced by Dangerous Films for BBC, National Geographic, Tel France andProSieben; and German independent feature film Godspeed produced byUniversum Film, Orange Pictures and Shotgun Pictures.

The main incentive forforeign producers looking to set up shop on the island is a cash grant given toqualifying productions on the portion of eligible expenditure spent in Malta.Up to 20% of this expenditure could be rebated to a qualifying productioncompany..

A second incentive offers investment credits and rebates to companies offeringservices to the Maltese industry, whether they're based in Malta or abroad..

The relevant regulations for the incentives are currently being finalised.However feature film and television productions, mini-series, animation anddocumentaries that started filming in Malta after January 1, 2005 are alleligible for the incentives.

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