How France overhauled investment infrastructure and tax rebate in bid to woo large scale film and TV projects

France has long been a top global shooting destination, but due to recent struggles in wooing international productions drawn to more attractive incentives in Spain, Italy and Eastern Europe, the country has revamped its investment infrastructure and made a major change to its already competitive tax rebate.  

France offers the Tax Rebate for International Productions (TRIP), a rebate of 30% of the eligible production spend with a cap of $34.2m (€30m). That figure rises to 40% when VFX expenses surpass $2.3m (€2m) on local soil.  

In February 2026, the French government approved another major measure designed to woo larger scale projects whereby the TRIP will now allow the salaries of non-­European Union actors, falling under above-the-line costs, to be counted as eligible spend for film and TV productions shooting in France. The move received official approval by the European Commission in Brussels this summer.  

“We are back on the map,” suggests Raphael Benoliel, producer and founder of production company Firstep. The move to include such above-the-line costs may just be considered icing on the cake to the trifecta of infrastructure, locations and competent crews, but Benoliel suggests: “If the tax credit hadn’t changed, we would not have the cake at all. We would have continued to miss out on major projects to our European neighbours.” 

France continues to invest in production and innovation via its $399m (€350m) Great Image Factory scheme, part of the government’s $61.6bn (€54bn) France 2030 plan, focused on renovating and building studios and training facilities. By late 2026/early 2027, new sets will be completed at major facilities including Studios de Bry, Provence Studios, France Télévisions’ V Studios in Vendargues near Montpellier, and TSF Studios’ backlot in Coulommiers. 

“We have seen a noticeable market recovery in terms of volume and more ambitious projects coming to France than before Covid,” says Arnaud Roland, CNC deputy director for digital strategy and France 2030. Put simply, projects are staying longer and spending more money. According to CNC figures, there were 69 TRIP-­approved projects and $574.6m (€504m) spent in the territory in 2025, compared to 54 projects and $515.3m (€452m) spent in 2024. Both surpassed the pre-Covid 2019 total of 52 projects and $342m (€300m) in spending.  

Many major US films and series continue to flock to the territory for VFX work alone. Such spending hit $57m (€50m) in 2025 compared to $38.8m (€34m) in 2024, a notable fivefold jump over the past five years since the rebate increased, from 2019’s $10.8m (€9.5m) and 2020’s $12.5m (€11m).  

Recent high-profile projects opting for VFX work in the country include Oscar winner Sinners (Light VFX), box-­office hit Project Hail Mary (BUF), Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 2026 release The Bride! (One Of Us), plus season two of Prime Video’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, the fifth season of Net­flix’s Stranger Things and feature Predator: Badlands, all handled by The Yard. 

Following the recent TRIP reform, “We’ve already seen a significant uptick in scouting requests from producers, particularly in Hollywood,” says Roland. “We are currently working to translate this momentum into signed and sealed greenlit projects, which will be the challenge over the next few months.” 

Amid wider uncertainty in Holly­wood around the Warner Bros-Para­mount merger that has slowed decision-making on a more global scale,  CNC is stepping up efforts to keep France front of mind for international producers. Its Inspiration Tours bring film and TV decision-makers to France to discover locations, studios, crews and incentives, while a new ‘alumni network’ launched in autumn 2026 is extending those relationships through panels and dinners in Los Angeles. “The idea is to build a community and make France a natural choice when projects move forward,” says Roland. “France is no longer just a backdrop for French stories — it can host an entire major studio production from start to finish.” 

The country has set out to welcome bigger and bolder studio titles, but it is still a good fit for independent productions, as experienced by AGC Studios’ series Vanished, which aired on MGM+ in the US and Prime Video in the UK. It shot briefly in Paris in spring 2025, then on location in Marseille and at the LED stage at Provence Studios in Martigues, replicating Jordan in nearby countryside. “It was great to bring the city of Marseille to life. We approached it as if it were on the call sheet,” says the series’ UK producer James Clayton of Slow Burn Entertainment. 

“We had one hub for the entire show,” says line producer John Bernard of Peninsula Film. “Financially we had to get the entire show to fit into one challenging box, and we did.” Trimaran and MPC handled VFX work for the production, which was able to use TRIP’s 40% incentive. 

Capital attractions 

Paris hosted 6,570 days of filming in 2025, a significant increase of nearly 15% compared to 2024 when the city was closed to filming for much of the year due to the Olympics. Paris hosted nearly as many feature films in 2025 (92) as in 2023 (98), and 66 series compared to 64 in 2023. 

Recent US shows to visit the capital include the third season of Jenny Han’s Prime Video hit The Summer I Turned Pretty, Ryan Murphy and Matthew Hodgson’s FX-Hulu body horror The Beauty, CBS spinoff FBI: International and Dan Fogelman’s upcoming Hulu NFL drama The Land. Streamer features shot in Paris include Apple TV’s Mark Wahlberg-­starrer The Family Plan 2 and Netflix romantic comedies The Wrong Paris and Je M’Appelle Agneta. HBO Max’s Hacks set its series finale in Paris with scenes at Gare de Lyon train station, Saint Ouen flea market, Saint-Gervais church, and even had rare access to shoot inside the Louvre museum. 

Hallmark Media filmed on location in the city in March for six-episode romantic comedy Paris Is Always A Good Idea, co-produced by Dynamic Television and Clapperboard Studios. Netflix’s Wednesday also shot some of its third season in Paris in April and Emily In Paris returned for its sixth season in the summer. HBO Max hit The White Lotus, whose fourth season is set during Cannes Film Festival, shot in the south of France and Paris from April to October. 

Netflix series Survival Of The Thickest shot scenes for its third and final season on location in Paris in early 2026, blending its own creative department heads with local crews. “The tax credit is what makes it possible. It provides enough of a boost that we were able to pull off these shoots even on a small budget,” says producer Willy Friedman. “Xavier Roy and his team at Froggie Production found the most wonderful crew and the experience was phenomenal.” 

Apple TV’s The Last Thing He Told Me — local production also by Froggie — shot three episodes of its second season on location in Paris and Marseille in spring 2025. “We were limited in time, but wanted a large scope and the local team guided us, with respect to our limitations, for everything from permits to where the trucks would park and even drone work above the river Seine,” explains producer Merri Howard. 

Howard cites cultural differences as advantages rather than inconveniences. “Everything is on a smaller scale and the work hours are different, but that makes for more efficiency and a strong work ethic. For an 8am call, they are all set up and ready to go before 8am. In Los Angeles, that’s usually rehearsal and readying for shooting at that time.”