South Australia is soon to offer producers a new incentiveto shoot in the state - a 10% rebate on the cost of local cast and crew,including post-production personnel.

South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) chief executiveHelen Leake told Screendaily.com that the initiative is being introducedon a trial basis and is capped at only A$500,000 in total.

The small state, which is the home of filmmakers Rolf deHeer and Mario Andreacchio, already has a payroll tax exemption. Leake alsoemphasises other benefits such as sunny weather, good transport infrastructure,as well as competitive living costs and location fees.

The rebate has been made possible by a new off-budgetallocation of A$750,000, announced by the Premier Mike Rann last week duringthe Adelaide Film Festival and the Australian International DocumentaryConference. The rest is earmarked for script development.

Without world standard studios, cast, crew or postproduction depth, South Australia is positioning itself as the friend of smallindependent films.

The SAFC budget is less than A$5m per year, which includesA$1.5m for local production investment, A$750,000 for digital media andA$350,000 for local development, not counting the new money.

Drama shot anywhere in Australia and budgeted at over A$15mcan apply for a refund of 12.5% on local expenditure.