Icelandic Industry Reacts To Proposed Film Budget Cuts

The immediate reaction from the industry was to send a joint statement from trade organisations expressing their ‘bewilderment’ as the proposed cuts would come at a time of great international success for Icelandic films and when the sector is finally recovering after several years of belt-tightening following the 2008 financial meltdown. 

In 2012, film production turnover reached ISK 11.7m (€71m), up by an impressive 248% from 2010 and it continued to climb by 25% the first few months of this year (compared to 2012). This boost in revenues was driven by major Hollywood shootings (from Oblivion, Prometheus, Ben Stiller’s upcoming The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, to the TV series Games of Thrones) as well as special cash injections from the government to national creative industries that contributed to doubling the funding for the Icelandic Film Centre from ISK 500m to just over ISK1 billion in 2013.

The proposed new governmental cuts for the year 2014 were all the more mystifying for the industry as a study from 2011 about the economic impact of film on the local economy had firmly established that the sector five folds in turnover the public contributions to film production. According to the film trade organisations, the effect of the film cuts would not only hurt the local economy but create 200 job losses.

The action plan for the Icelandic film industry is to call on Althing (Iceland’s Parliament) to overturn the government’s proposed film cuts before the 2014 Budget is approved at the end of the year.

Here under are reactions from the industry.

Laufey Guðjónsdóttir, (pictured) Managing Director, the Icelandic Film Centre
“I am not too optimistic but still hopeful, that the government/Althing will give some of the film funds back during the round of discussions before December. It is going to be very difficult for the filmmakers, the industry and Icelandic culture with fewer films, hardly enough to keep sustainability. There are quite a few very good projects that we would have to put on ice if the final vote goes as feared. And this is a year of many successes for Icelandic films: The Deep made it to the shortlist of nine for the Oscars; Ólafur Darri won Best Actor in Karlovy Vary for XL; the short film Whale Valley received an award in Cannes; Of Horses and Men won San Sebastian’s Best New Director Award, Metalhead by Ragnar Bragason and minority Swedish/Icelandic co-production Hemma filmed in Iceland are both playing in Busan this week. Furthermore there are interesting newcomers such as Ísold Uggadóttir whose short films have travelled to many major festivals and Hlynur Pálmason who just graduated from the Danish Film School and already won some prizes. It is sad if we will not be able to build up further in the near future.”

Baltasar Kormákur, writer/director/producer RVK Studios
“It is a terrible shock for everyone working in the film industry in Iceland. I think everyone knew there would be some cuts but not as big as they turned out, more than in any other cultural field. I am still hoping that they will realize the mistake they are doing and cut back some of it. It is almost impossible to build any future for the Icelandic films when the keep cutting us down by the knee.”

Thor Sigurjónsson, producer ZikZak Filmworks
“I sincerely hope the government will re-consider the cuts. It has been a long battle in Iceland to convince the government of the impact the film industry has financially i.e. that it is good business for them to keep both the film centre and the 20% rebate in place. Stability is the key issue both for local films and for big budget foreign films coming in to shoot in Iceland. “

Hilmar Sigurdsson, GunHil Production, Chairman of the Icelandic Film Producers Association
“The most amazing fact of this proposed budget cut is that the State Treasury will lose income as the film industry is in fact a really positive investment for the government and returns more than it gets. And we haven’t even started talking about the cultural and language values. This is a groundhog day for Icelandic film from the last severe cuts in 2010. I hope we are not facing the same here again. Iceland needs jobs for younger people and we have them in our industry.”