Government cuts film funding in Spain more than 30%.
As Spain’s government makes overall budget cuts of 20%, the film industry will now see a cut of more than 30% for the National Fund for Cinematography.
According to newspaper El País, the film fund’s budget will be cut from the previous $100m (€76m) to barely $66m (£50m).
This will be balanced by a new pot of $46m (€35m) — pending expected Congressional approval — that will go toward paying the debts of the Culture Department, mostly the “redemptions” that are given to a film with successful box-office results.
The film sector is Spain is already suffering a decline in production. Last year, at this time of the year, 74 shoots had already began. In 2012, the figure is down to 25, and only 10 of those are features (the rest are documentaries or shorts).
The national funds for cinema are managed by the ICAA, an organisation that could see up to 37% cuts across its activities, such as its contributions to festivals like San Sebastian or the special fund reserved to encourage films in regional Spanish languages such as Catalan or Galician. This year’s $1.33m (€1m) backing from the ICAA to San Sebastian is safe and confirmed.
It is predicted that the new law of private patronage for cinema will be approved in coming weeks to balance this dramatic cut. This law will provide significant tax benefits for film production.
Other arts cuts in Spain include The Museo del Prado’s budget going down 24%; Museo Reina Sofia down 17.63% and Biblioteca Nacional down 14.2%.
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