Cinecitta Studios in Rome is reaping the benefits of the generous new Italian tax credit, which has recently been extended to all audiovisual activity, including high-end TV drama.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12), Cristina Giubetti, Cinecitta sales manager for international productions, has revealed the full extent of the support that major international films coming to Cinecitta can receive.
According to Giuebetti, on the recent Paramount MGM remake of Ben Hur, the tax credit was worth around €14m to the producers - 25% of the €56m spent in Italy.
Timur Bekmambetov’s remake of the Roman epic, starring Jack Huston as the falsely accused nobleman who survives years of slavery to take vengeance on the best friend who betrayed him, will also receive substantial VAT returns.
Giubetti explained: “[Cinecitta Studios] directly manage the executive production in Italy for major productions that shoot on our stages.
“We grant them 25% of the Italian expenditure and VAT re-imbursement within 12 months of end of shooting.”
Venice opening film Everest was partially filmed at the studios, with the base camp scenes shot in the outdoor tank at Cinecitta.
Ben Stiller recently finished production on comedy sequel Zoolander 2, which co-stars Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell and Penelope Cruz.
Paolo Sorrentino is shooting his international TV production The Young Pope, starring Jude Law and Diane Keaton, at Cinecitta.
The production, backed by Sky, HBO and Canal+, is one of the first to benefit from the extension of the tax credit to all audiovisual forms.
Meanwhile, Cristina Comencini is set to shoot her new feature Che Resti Tra Noi at Cinecitta. This stars Paola Cortellesi and Micaela Ramazzotti.
The availability of the tax credit for high-end TV drama is also expected to stop big budget, Italian-set, small screen dramas from shooting outside the country, such as Showtime’s The Borgias, which was shot in Hungary from 2011-13.
Commercials and promos are also coming to Cinecitta in big numbers. Michael Bay has recently been working at the studios, in this case shooting a Victoria’s Secret commercial while Wim Wenders was at Cinecitta to direct a commerial for Persol Glasses.
Next week, a delegation from Cinecitta - led by Giubetti and Cinecitta MD Giuseppe Basso - will head to LA to to tub-tump on behalf of the studios.
“We will visit all the (US) majors to tell them that this (tax credit) measure exists, it performs very well and is safe,” said Giubetti.
She suggested that the good times, when Cinecitta was nicknamed “Hollywood On The Tiber,” are now back at the renowned studios. “We are very, very strong now.”
Cinecitta is owned by Italian Entertainment Group. Its main shareholders include Luigi Abete, Diego della Valle, Aurelio Delaurentiis and the Haggiag Family.
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