Bulgaria

[BG] Film Industry Funding 2012

IRIS 2012-2:1/9

Ofelia Kirkorian-Tsonkova

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

One of the most discussed topics among Bulgarian film industry experts at the beginning of 2011, was the declaration as unconstitutional of the amended Art. 17 of the Film Industry Act (Закон за филмовата индустрия Обн. ДВ. бр.105 от 2 Декември 2003г), which regulates the value of the State subsidy for film production in Bulgaria by the Constitutional Court (see IRIS 2011-5/8).

Up to the end of 2011 the Bulgarian Parliament did not revoke the new wording of Art. 17 of the Film Industry Act and the big question for all was what would be the amount of the State subsidy for producing Bulgarian films in 2012.

The Council of Ministers and the Parliament were obliged to take into consideration the Constitutional Court’s decision and officially stated that the subsidy for 2012 is at the value of the average budgets for the previous year of 7 feature films, 14 feature-length documentaries and 160 minutes animation.

In figures, the amount of the subsidy for 2012 is BGN 12,100,000 or approximately less than EUR 6 Mio. This sum is EUR 1 Mio more than the subsidy for 2011, but in the same time, bearing in mind the official statistics for the film budgets in 2011, the determined subsidy is EUR 3 Mio less than the provided value according to the original wording of Art 17.

Additionally, there is still no positive development in connection with the idea for a tax credit for film producers in Bulgaria (see IRIS 2010-5/11).

Cumulatively, these facts make the film industry in Bulgaria feel unsatisfied and no optimism is on the horizon. The official governmental forecasts for the film production subsidy for 2013 and 2014 are for another reduction, to the sum of BGN 10,100,000 (approximately EUR 5 Mio).