Why the FISAplus incentive is elevating Austria as a top-flight international shooting location

Guy Ritchie’s Fountain Of Youth, starring Natalie Portman and John Krasinski, for Apple TV+, is one of the many large-scale international productions drawn to Austria due to its eye-popping locations, five-star infrastructure and highly competent crews.

The number of productions choosing Austria as their main filming location has soared since the introduction of the internationally focused financial incentive FISA­plus in 2023. The automatic, non-repayable subsidy is worth up to 35% of film production expenditure in Austria, up to a maximum of $5.7m (€5m) per film and $8.6m (€7.5m) per series.

It also offers support for projects that only do post-production, while putting an emphasis on green production and targeted measures to close the gender gap in film and TV production. There has been a steady rise in applications for both the Green Filming Bonus and the Gender Gap Financing incentive, says film commissioner Nina-Anica Keidies of the national film commission FILM in AUSTRIA, part of the Austrian Business Agency.

Following national elections in late 2024, the existing FISAplus incentive was suspended as the new guidelines make their way through government. Approval of the revised guidelines is expected soon, according to the Federal Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism, with the funding tool anticipated to reopen shortly thereafter.

“There has been a remarkable increase in the number of filming days in Austria,” says Keidies. “Projects approved in 2024 are expected to generate over 70% more filming days compared to those approved in 2023.”

Earlier this year, FILM in AUSTRIA commissioned local consultants Paul & Collegen to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of FISA­plus as well as ÖFI+, the incentive aimed at domestic productions. The report found FISAplus was the number-­one reason international producers chose to film in Austria.

Since the introduction of the incentive, 162 projects, supported with $164m (€144m) in total, had a combined Austrian spend of $552m (€484m). Ritchie’s Fountain Of Youth received $2.4m (€2.1m) in FISA­plus funding, working with Gerhard Rupp’s local production company’s film division Onnoo Two Film to facilitate the funding and production. The action film shot for a week in Vienna including in the National Library’s Grand Hall, and public spaces Heldenplatz (in front of Hofburg Palace) and Schwarzenbergplatz.

It also filmed in the city’s sewers, already imprinted on cinephile minds thanks to Orson Welles’ The Third Man.

“Make things happen”

FILM in AUSTRIA is the first and central point of contact for monitoring and supporting international film, TV and streaming projects and potential applicants for FISAplus funding. As part of the new guidelines, a mandatory advice service by FILM in AUSTRIA is now required for projects seeking $1.7m (€1.5m) or more.

Rupp says FILM in AUSTRIA’s motto, “Make things happen”, represents the commitment the country’s audiovisual sector has to international productions.

Further titles to touch down in the territory include HBO series The Regime, starring Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant, which received $2.6m (€2.3m) via the FISAplus incentive; Rupp’s HETV/TV division Onnoo One Film again worked on the project.

The second series of Hulu production Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman, received $8.6m (€7.5m) via FISAplus, shooting in Austria and Germany during the first six months of 2024. Supernix, a joint venture between Philipp Kreuzer’s Maze Pictures and Joe Neurauter’s Occupant Entertainment, was the local partner and secured the incentive support.

It is FISAplus, Keidies points out, that keeps Austria highly competitive with Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany as a production destination. It is also boosting the local production sector as local producers can access it for their international projects. “Without FISAplus, many Austrian productions could not have been realised in Austria,” says Keidies.

The uptick in production has attracted investment to Vienna in the form of a much-needed studio that opened in October 2024: hq7 studios boasts two soundproof stages, measuring approximately 1,000 and 2,000 square metres, as well as offices, workshops and warehouse space, fixed sets, parking and round-the-clock access.

The facility was launched by Hafen Wien and hq7 studios, a joint venture between CC Real International and 3MPG.

“Paired with Austria’s unique landscape and its high level of production expertise, FISAplus and the new studios strengthen our position as an internationally competitive film location and production hub,” says Keidies.