July 11, 2019
Today’s announcement of a new 10% tax incentive for Post, Digital and Visual Effects work performed in New South Wales gives film makers a total of 40% off their Gross Spend when combined with the existing 30% Federal PDV offset.
Not only is this rebate one of the largest in the world, but it is also simple and consistent to calculate as it is based on the Gross Spend as opposed to fluctuating inputs such as payroll.
If your budget is $1,000,000 you know you’ll get $400,000 back – it’s that easy.
Talk to us about your next production, we can help set everything up and can even cash flow the 40% amount so that your production only needs to contribute 60% and we can handle the rest for you.
Oh, and we nearly forgot to point out the the Aussie Dollar has been trading at 70 cents for a while now… it’s really never been a better time to work with Australia!
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MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday, 11 July 2019
10% PDV INCENTIVE PUTS NSW IN FRONT FOR GLOBAL FILMMAKERS
NSW is now one of the most competitive locations in the world for filmmakers following the announcement of a new 10% tax incentive for the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) sector.
Film and television production is currently booming across the world due to unprecedented consumer demand for content and streaming.
Minister for Jobs and Investment Stuart Ayres said the NSW PDV rebate is a signal to the industry that NSW is open for business.
“This decision helps achieve the NSW Government’s vision of creating great jobs in great places. It is a fantastic boost for the NSW film, television and streaming industries which increases global competitiveness, helps retain the best talent and creates jobs.
“NSW as a technology focused and services driven economy is a natural fit for investment in and support of the film and PDV industries. We look forward to seeing more jobs, investment and projects being located in NSW,” Mr Ayres said.
Minister for the Arts Don Harwin said this competitive post-production incentive gives filmmakers and studios even more reasons to locate in NSW.
“Coupled with our extended Made in NSW funding, which so far has supported over 20,000 jobs and brought in a spend of over $700m across the State, this is a great opportunity for filmmakers and studios,” Mr Harwin said.
“Time and time again, audiences are blown away by what they see on screen – be it cinema, TV or gaming. A huge majority of this wouldn’t be possible without the highly skilled artists, engineers, specialists and data scientists who work tirelessly behind the
scenes to deliver these incredible experiences.
“Already nearly 60 per cent of the country’s screen practitioners and more than half of the country’s production and post-production businesses call NSW home. We’re committed to keeping up our competitive edge to secure major investment that will continue to drive the creation of these highly-technical jobs across our local creative industries.”
The incentive brings NSW in line with global locations such as the US, UK and Canada, in addition to competing States, and can be accessed by filmmakers on top of Federal incentives, who commit to spending over $500,000 on PDV in NSW.
“Furthermore, I’m delighted that confirming this incentive has allowed us to sign with Warner Bros. for post-production on the upcoming Untitled Baz Luhrmann Elvis Project, which anticipates injecting up to $35m into the State,” Mr Harwin said.
Warner Bros. Pictures Senior Vice President of Production Danielle Dajani said, “The announcement of a PDV credit by the NSW government will provide much-needed consistency and confidence to productions which must make decisions on where to place post work under very tight timeframes. This will allow us to utilize the world-class facilities in NSW for our upcoming Baz Luhrmann project in 2020.”
The incentive has been welcomed by the PDV sector in NSW, with quotes from Animal Logic, Cutting Edge, Fin Design, Plastic Wax, Slate VFX and Spectrum Films listed below.
MEDIA: Sophie Hull | Minister Ayres | 0447 583 756
Chris Lawrence | Minister Harwin | 0439 434 863
Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian said, “We welcome the NSW Government’s acknowledgement of the value of our creative industries by this important commitment to supporting the competitiveness of our film, TV and streaming industries.”
Chief Operating Officer Sharon Taylor added, “This clear commitment by the NSW Government to making PDV attraction incentives more competitive with other states such as South Australia will be a huge boost to Animal Logic’s ability to continue to secure large scale international productions like Peter Rabbit to NSW.”
Cutting Edge Head of Features & Television Marcus Bolton said, “This incentive will allow us to supercharge the national offer for Cutting Edge. We have already seen the uplift and benefit from other States’ incentives for us, and this NSW change would allow us to drive the focus for our Sydney team with increased infrastructure and most importantly creatives.
“This news coupled with the recent federal acceptance of PDV eligibility for the streaming services such as Netflix & Amazon is a winning combination for Cutting Edge to help kickstart the sector back in par with other domestic State offers.”
Fin Design Managing Director Chris Spry said, “This incentive allows NSW to be globally competitive again and will stem the closure of NSW businesses and outflow of talented professionals interstate and overseas.
“It will enable Fin to double in size in a matter of months and allow us to create 60 new full-time jobs for visual effects professionals. This growth will let us take on larger projects and increase our capacity, benefitting the entire State’s local, national and
international screen production activity and creating even more jobs for the overall screen sector.
“It will also bring an important skillset back to the State, which will benefit multiple industries which use the same skills as visual effects professionals, including defence, education, medical and manufacturing sectors.”
Plastic Wax General Manager Felix Crawshaw said, “Online streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu qualifying for the federal PDV incentive is a game-changer for Plastic Wax and their clients, and this new State-based incentive takes this even further.
“State-based incentives are a crucial deciding factor that influences producer’s decisions on where to place their shows. With the Animation industry showing strong growth and set to reach US$270bn by 2020, this incentive will not only ensure that NSW remains competitively ‘on par’ with other territories, but also position NSW perfectly in becoming the animation capital of Australia.”
Slate VFX Directors Prue Fletcher, Bryn Farrelly and David Booth said, “SLATEVFX are pleased that the NSW Government is now offering this PDV incentive on top of the federal rebate, which brings it up to 40% for filmmakers. “This incentive will help grow the digital production industry and stimulate the local sector by enabling companies to expand and retain talented crews. It will also be a major attraction to international productions, complimenting the services provided in NSW.”
Spectrum Films Managing Director Josh Pomeranz said, “This 10% PDV rebate will not only mean a significant boost to post production houses being able to support local content across feature and TV production, it will bolster Spectrum’s ability to strengthen our connections with the North American and Asian markets.
“The incentive will maximise the ability of post houses to capitalise on the increase in global content production due to the surge in demand for SVOD. Everyone will benefit from this with increased employment in the post sector, stimulating creative talent and the VFX sector with whom post houses are frequently collaborating. It is an exciting concept with enormous ramifications for the future of the film and television industry in NSW.”
