Variety magazine: Tax breaks for film productions would help lure Hollywood to Romania

Cinema magazine Variety has featured the Romanian film industry in a new article, published April 27. The article looks at both the international productions realized in Romania with the help of local studios and the home-grown Romanian film scene.

“Bucharest aspires to be the next Prague in attracting runaway productions, but so far lacks top tax incentives,” wrote Variety journalist Leo Barraclough, referring to productions such as the series starring Kevin Costner Hatfields & McCoys and Cold Mountain, which featured Nicole Kidman and Jude Law. Romania's most alluring charms, according to Variety are the beautiful scenery, skilled local film crews and low all round costs. However, lack of a tax incentive scheme is a negative and Variety suggests the introduction of similar tax breaks as those employed by the Czech Republic, which “covers up to 20 percent of production spend.” Variety also refers to Romania's New Wave of festival friendly films, which have proved to be hits at some of the important events, winning prizes at Cannes several times. Israeli company Cinema City has had role in increasing local box office takings with its chain of multiplexes across Romania, according to Variety. Read Romania Opening Its Doors to the Worlds of Digital and Showbiz on the Variety website. editor@romania-insider.com (in picture: still from Beyond the Hills, a Romanian film)