Norwegian government ups film budget and filming incentives for 2024

Luring foreign shoots in Norway such as Succession, Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning and keeping local productions at home continue to be a priority for the Norwegian government which has just increased the Norwegian Film Institute’s filming incentive scheme by NOK 30m (€2.6m). According to the NFI, this means that for 2024, NOK 84 million (€7.27m) will be available to new films and series wishing to film in Norway.

At the same time, the Ministry of Culture & Equality has proposed to lift the budget of the Norwegian Film Commission by NOK 1.2m (€104,000) to approximately NOK 4.5m (€390,000).

Recent productions that successfully applied for the 25% filming cash rebate on local spend include HBO’s Succession season 4, Hans Petter Moland’s US gangster thriller Thug starring Liam Neeson, romantic action film The Gorge starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, and the event Norwegian/Canadian series So Long Marianne starring Alex Wolff and Thea Sofie Loch Næss.

Besides the filming incentives, the regions received an extra NOK 30.4m (€2.6m) from the government and for the first time the Oslo Film Fund was granted NOK 7m (€607,000) and added to the official list of regional film funds.

Meanwhile support to the buoyant gaming industry was upped by NOK 10m (€868,000) for 2024.

In total, public funding allocated to film, TV and computer games for 2024 is set to increase by NOK 77.8m (€6.7m) from the 2023 budget.

In a statement, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery said: “Film is perhaps the cultural offering that most people have a relationship with. With this initiative, we make sure that the stories that are told reflect the whole of society and all parts of Norway. We also help ensure that more people get access to watching films on the big screen and that more productions use Norway as a filming location.”

Commenting on the government’s proposed 2024 budget, producer Synnøve Hørsdal of Maipo Film said: “I am pleased that there is an increase especially in the general budget for film support. It is not a large increase but at least it is an index regulation. We haven’t had that for a while,” she noted.