Film industry executives contend film tourism will help india's film industry become one of the most competitive on world stage

The LA India Film Council today, launched a report on the benefits of film tourism and tax incentives entitled Made in India: Attracting and incentivising film productions at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Big Picture Summit 2014, proposing that a strong production tax regime will ensure the Indian film industry is one of the most competitive and successful on the world stage.

The report was released during a panel discussion Making India as an International Filming Destination & Revenue from Global Markets by an esteemed panel of co-production experts and producers - Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Rezal A. Rahman, CEO, Iskander Malaysia Studios Sdn Bhd; Frank Rittman, SVP, Deputy Managing Director and Regional Policy Officer, MPA, Asia Pacific, Utkarsh Sanghvi, Director – Tax, EY and Dr. Claudia Gladziejewski, Executive Producer, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Germany.

The report highlights the role that film commissions across the globe play in attracting foreign productions into a country, laying down ground rules for permissions and clearances, detailing institutional structure, both at a national and state level and creating a sustainable ecosystem that benefits both international productions and the local economy through effective film incentive programs. They are setup as a multi-sectoral working group with an aim to generate economic impact (direct, indirect, induced) for the region/ country in addition to helping promote tourism in the country/ region. Increased collaboration between India and other countries will aid in optimizing resources and the country realizing its true potential to boost inbound tourism while attracting big budget productions.

Vijay Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Fox Star Studios, India, says, “Film tourism is considered as a powerful tool to promote tourism destinations and locations in a country. India needs to adopt a globally recognized standard to introduce production benefits to boost film production across various locations. Production incentives, timely permits, availability of local talent, production resources and infrastructure are key ingredients to attract foreign and local productions to shoot in a country. This will ensure retention of local productions within the country and help position India as an International filming destination globally.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment spent USD 150 million on the production of The AmazingSpider-Man 2 in New York. This resulted in USD 44 million in wages to New York residents and $4.5 million in taxes to the state as well as $1.9 million for catering, $4 million for site fees and $5.7 million for hotels. Similarly, the production of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which was shot over 70 days in New York State spent more than USD 55 million in local economies, including USD 30 million in salaries in NY labor and USD 3.2 million in taxes paid to the state.

Frank Rittman, SVP, Deputy Managing Director and Regional Policy Officer, MPA, Asia Pacific, said, “We applaud various initiatives taken by the Government to attract international productions to India and look forward to the roll-out of a film incentive regime. International collaborations facilitate and strengthen motion picture production, distribution, technology and commercial cooperation between film communities. In addition to helping local industry up their production standards and expertise across the production value chain, it creates opportunities for additional employment and tax revenues, promotes local culture and stimulates the local economy.”

India’s film and television industry is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in the country today and there has been a renewed surge of investments into the country by global companies. The Indian motion picture and television industry contributed c. USD 8.1 billion (INR 50,000 Cr.) to the country’s economy, equating to 0.5% of GDP, in 2013.
The success of movies such as Slumdog Millionaire, has resulted in an increasing number of Hollywood Studios coming to India to shoot films. Some of the recent Hollywood movies shot in India include Eat, Pray, Love, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Life of Pi and The Dark Knight Rises. However, India with its inherent advantages such as scenic locations, incredible cultural diversity, trained film crews and low production costs has still to adopt a film incentive regime.

“The time is right for industry stakeholders to encourage the Government to implement the single window clearance system across the country, promote co-productions and roll out a robust film incentive system across different states in India through Film Commissions. This will boost India as a filming destination attracting more foreign and local filmmakers in addition to promoting film tourism, generate employment, tax revenues and improve skill levels.” - Utkarsh Sanghvi, Director, EY
Kulmeet Makkar, CEO, Film and Television Porducers Guild of India, added, “Shooting in India has always been erratic in the absence of a transparent policy and structure across the country. The experience therefore differs from location to location. There are few states which provide a very good support which is mostly to do with relationships and individual choices and preferences rather than a structured policy.”