The French VFX take a very good TRIP

Palais.

Olivier Marchetti’s Provence Studios, an all-in-one studio complex based in Martigues recently welcomed Lionsgate’s The Serpent Queen about the life of Catherine de Medici that took advantage of the TRIP and worked with Bernard’s Peninsula Films. Last year’s Festival de Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane filmed there as did just released Netflix series The 7 Lives of Léa. Next up, the studio will host Yann Gozlan’s upcoming French title Visions starring international stars Matthieu Kassovitz and Diane Kruger will kick off shooting there later this year.

Tarak Ben Ammar recently bought Luc Besson’s Studio de Paris that also continues to welcome both local and foreign productions.

A very special deal for special effects

Despite the attractivity of France as a shooting destination, many big budget projects continued to opt to shoot in cheaper locations elsewhere in Europe to cut post-production and VFX costs. The CNC made a major move in 2020 to increase the TRIP to a 40% rebate on all eligible expenses (including live action spending that is not VFX-related) for international films or series whose VFX expenses are more than €2 million ($2.1 million) in the territory. In addition to the required minimum five days of shooting in France, the projects must partner with local production service companies to handle digital processing. The goal? To boost France’s VFX industry.

“Midnight in Paris” directed by Woody Allen ( Mars Films, 2011).

To be or not to be… French. That is the question.

The TRIP was designed specifically and exclusively for non-French productions. When projects approach the CNC for funding or rebates, producers must decide if the project will become French, thus subject to coproduction treaties and CNC regulation OR if it will remain international and benefit from the TRIP.

This can become tricky when it comes to co-productions or projects for platforms who typically choose to produce via their international hubs in L.A. in order to maximize the benefits for the titles that will then be seen by viewers all over the world even if shot in the French language.

Want to take a TRIP yourself? Here’s how.

You’ll need to work with a line producer who can navigate the tricky paperwork and work with the CNC or work directly with Film France or local film commissions in specific regions. Film France is a state funding agency supported by the CNC in charge of promoting France and has become the first stop for foreign projects preparing films in the country. Film France works with a network of regional film commissions and in overseas territories. Contact: rebate@filmfrance.net

Rebecca Leffler

Le TRIP n.m. /trip/ (in French, pronouncd treep) 1. “Tax Rebate for International Production.” 2. An international tax incentive designed to support non-French projects completely or partially made in France.

u Extending the TRIP: The original tax credit for foreign productions wooed Hollywood to France, but can its updated VFX incentives keep international productions in the country?

H “Come to beautiful France, shoot your film, work with top talent and crews and enjoy a 30% tax rebate.” This was, in sum, the pitch to court major Hollywood studios and bring them to the country since the TRIP launched in 2009. The enticement worked and for the past decade and counting, the rebate has attracted prestigious productions and boosted both the local film industry and French economy. In 2020, the CNC (France’s state-sponsored film organization) made a major move to increase the TRIP to a 40% rebate on all eligible expenses for international films or series whose VFX expenses are more than €2 million ($2.1 million) in the territory. The goal of such an incentive was to not only rein in big budget – particularly Hollywood – productions to boost France’s VFX industry, but to keep them there. Instead of seeing foreign projects simply coming to France to film the “French” parts of their scripts then jet off to the UK or L.A. for interior set shoots or special effects work, the government wants to turn France into a one-stop-shop for filmmaking from script to screen. Are the current incentives enough to turn France into a filmmaking destination to shoot not just French stories, but any story?.

French friends with VFX benefits

VFX powerhouses like Mikros and Mac Guff are known across the globe for their animation aptitude, but the industry has lost some of its greatest talents in recent years who jet off to Hollywood since there are not enough big budget French movies like Pathé’s Astérix and Obélix to keep the industry afloat. The goal of the recently boosted

Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler and Luis Gerardo Méndez in “Murder Mystery” ( Netflix, 2019).

40% rebate is to bring more projects to France…and keep them there. Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel was among the first productions to take advantage of the new rebate that has since seen other projects benefit from it including the animated Despicable Me 4 and Treasure in addition to Murder Mystery 2, that just wrapped shooting in France last month.

While Mission: Impossible - Fallout saw quite a lot of press due to its major spending in Paris - 25 M€ - Murder Mystery 2 actually saw more spending in the country, making it the biggest project shot in France to date though Netflix won’t confirm the official budget.

What makes Murder Mystery 2 stand out is not only that the film was shot in France for scenes that take place in France, but it also shot on sets in France that do not take place in France. Directed by Jeremy Garelick, the second Murder Mystery shot both exteriors in Paris and on sets made to look like Hawaii at the now Tarak Ben Ammarowned Paris Studios. “We recreated an enormous Indian tent for a wedding taking place in Hawaii…in the middle of Paris,” the film’s line producer Raphael Benoliel said. The project was a colossal effort in terms of both budget and manpower.

“For Murder Mystery 2, we had nearly 1,000 technicians working on our crew. We just sent out 19,000 pay slips. 19,000!” Benoliel confirmed, a sign that the French government’s incentive is boosting the local industry and economy.

Marchetti and local organizations like France’s union of technical workers FICAM are currently in talks with the government to amend eligibility requirements particularly for VFX-heavy and animation titles. “Just because you’re not talking about France, a film can still be French even if it is about something surreal,” Marchetti said, adding: “It’s not just about the story being French - it’s about the money that it brings to local industries. When the state invests in these projects, it boosts the local economy so it’s a win-win.”

Just a TRIP or will foreign productions move in?

“Can France welcome films that don’t take place in France? More and more,” Benoliel said, but added that the current rebate is more enticing for VFX-heavy projects and particularly for TV series.

“From a business perspective, our international tax rebate is the best in the world for series. For feature films, not necessarily and here’s why. Generally, for feature films like Murder Mystery 2 the above the line - aka the salaries for the talent - are very high. So it’s hard to catch up with the deficit of the above the line with 30-40%. Even for prestigious series, the salaries aren’t nearly as high as big stars shooting features.”

The current tax rebate currently only covers the salaries of French and European actors, so multi-million dollar budgets for top Hollywood and international talent are already cut out of the equation.

For Cactus Films’ Thomas Buchwalder, it is primarily about the financial incentives, but goes beyond the money. “Foreign productions are interested in filming in France not just for exterior décor and for the 30-40% return on investments, but also for the high quality of technicians and our know-how of the industry. The savoir-faire we have is knowing the different ways of working specific to France. It’s about experience, anticipation and optimizing costs – and of course the fact that it is rather agreeable to shoot in France from the delicious catering at lunchtime to the beautiful scenery, particularly in the sunny South of France.”

The sunny South of France of which he speaks is home to Olivier Marchetti’s Provence Studios, an all-in-one studio complex based in Martigues who recently welcomed Lionsgate’s The Serpent Queen about the life of Catherine de Medici that took advantage of the TRIP and worked with Bernard’s Peninsula Films. Last year’s Festival de Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane filmed there as did just released Netflix series The 7 Lives of Léa. Next up, the studio will host Yann Gozlan’s upcoming French title Visions starring international stars Matthieu Kassovitz and Diane Kruger will kick off shooting there later this year.

Is the TRIP ceiling too low to attract high-end big-budget projects?

The current cap of €30 million in spending is still an impediment to France becoming a completely onestop-shop for major international productions.

Budgets for major live action Hollywood blockbusters or animated films can be in the hundreds of millions, preventing them from doing all production and post-production work in France.

Ridley Scott will film his upcoming historical drama Napoleon for Apple+ in the UK and Malta because filming in France would have been too expensive given the current €30 million tax credit