13 leading Swedish film & TV outfits and organisations have issued a joint-statement on the urgency to introduce filming incentives in Sweden.

On the eve of the government fall budget, the joint statement published on Friday (23 August) in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet,  emphasizes the following key points:

  • Despite a common acceptance from all Swedish political parties, that the creative industries offer great growth potential, Sweden is still one of only four countries in the EU and EEA lacking film & TV production incentives. 
  • In 2017, a Parliamentary paper issued recommendations to introduce a 25% cash rebate on qualifying film & TV production spend in Sweden, for which the government would earmark an annual budget of SEK 300 million (€27.7m). The introduction of such a scheme in Sweden (on par with Finland’s existing filming cash rebate) is now urgent and should be included in the Swedish government’s fall budget for 2020. 
  • Between 2019-2020, Swedish productions will spend an estimated SEK 1.5 million on foreign shoots. Major runaway productions that could have stayed at home include Ari Aster’s global summer hit Midsommar (produced by Sweden’s B-Reel Film), filmed in Hungary, or the forthcoming feature reboot The Emigrants to be shot in the Czech Republic instead of Småland. 
  • With their attracting 25% filming incentives, neighbouring Finland or Norway are now favourite location shoots for foreign producers, contributing to a surge in the local economy, job creation, tourism, and boost of the local audio-visual industries. 
  • The introduction of a 25% cash rebate in Sweden would therefore promote regional growth, job creation, entrepreneurship, stimulate export and place Sweden among top world destinations. 
  • Growth potential in film and television is enormous due to the digitisation of the audio-visual sector and the arrival of streaming services, fuelling the demand for Swedish drama. It is therefore urgent to allow Sweden to compete on a level playing field with the rest of Europe.

Among the 13 signatories, Åsa Sjöberg, content director at TV4/C More said she welcomed the fact that “the entire industry” has been brought together. She said she had endorsed the initiative out of “frustration”, as the Swedish government had not given “any concrete signals” that the filming incentive would be implemented. “In May this year, the Minister of Culture called the lack of filming tax incentives "unsustainable". I agree with that, but then I wonder why the government doesn’t make it happen,” she pointed out.

Co-signatory Mikael Fellenius, Film I Väst CEO stressed the “self-financing” benefit of the filming incentive as the proposed SEK 300 million government funding could generate around SEK 1.2 billion in the local economy in terms VAT, social taxes, goods & services etc” he reckons.

SF Studios’ CEO Michael Porseryd, said he joined the signatories as this ‘[filming incentive] is “a very important issue” for his company, but also “for the entire Swedish film industry.” He goes on: “We basically want to produce in Sweden when we create Swedish films and dramas. We want to keep the Swedish film industry alive. Under the current conditions, we risk educating the film workers and industry in other countries, when we should seize all opportunities, build competence and create jobs in Sweden. It is also easy to see the benefit from a sustainability and environmental aspect,” he added.

Other signatories of the joint-statement include Eva Hamilton, chairwoman of the Swedish Film & TV Producers’ Association, Filippa Wallestam, CEO NENT Group Sweden, Hanna Stjärne, CEO SVT, Axel Eriksson, content director Discovery Networks Sweden, Per Strömbäck, spokesperson Nordic Game Institute, Anette Mattsson, CEO Film Capital Stockholm, Ralf Ivarsson, CEO Film i Skåne, Sandra Warg, CEO Filmpool Nord, Simon Norrthon, president of the Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film, and Eric Broberg, president of the Swedish Film Distributors’ Association.

Asked to comment on the Swedish film & TV industry lobbying initiative Anna Serner, Swedish Film Institute CEO said: “I hope that the united front will make things happen. We believed that Sweden would join the rest of Europe in making it economically possible to shoot in Sweden. All parties were agreeing and we thought it would be a part in the fall budget. But then the parliamentary situation made parties agree on a 74-point programme that is prioritised by the government, and the filming incentive scheme is not part of the programme. So I don’t think we will see it on September 18 [date of the fall budget announcement]. But I still believe it’s a good thing that so many parties have signed a joint statement,” she added