An article by The Washington Post recently reported that Iceland’s varied landscape and tax incentives are luring more and more of Hollywood’s filmmakers and television producers to the country. In recent years, Iceland’s beautiful landscape has appeared as an alien planet, a Himalayan Peak, and even the snow covered fantasy world of Game of Thrones.
These ventures have proven to be lucrative for both the country and the production teams. Still recovering from financial collapse, Iceland benefits greatly from the added revenue and jobs. Tax incentives provide an enormous incentive for filmmakers, seeing as the government offers a large reimbursement opportunity.
By establishing a company in Iceland or creating an Icelandic branch of an existing company, filmmakers could qualify for a 20% reimbursement of their production costs while filming on Icelandic soil. This rebate is substantial on films costing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
The country’s unique environment is a major selling point not only for TV shows, but also big Hollywood films, said Leifur Dagfinnsson, chairman and founding partner of Truenorth, which has worked on films including “The Fifth Estate,” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” And when speaking on the reimbursement program, Dagfinnsson added, “We wouldn’t stand a chance without [it].”
Click here to read the full article from The Washington Post
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