Malta To Raise Cash Rebates and Introduce New Production Incentives

ROME – The Mediterranean isle of Malta, which long been a hotspot for Hollywood tentpoles, including most recently Sony’s “Captain Philips” (pictured) is raising its already generous rebates to 25 percent cash on local spend, with no cap, plus an extra 2 percent if film or TV projects feature Maltese cultural elements.

Malta Film Commission chief Engelbert Grech has announced the isle’s bid to become even more competitive for foreign shoots with a new scheme that besides rebates also includes the launch of a co-production equity fund, post-production cashback capped at Euros 150,000 ($207,000), and an extension of the rebates to TV series and transmedia projects. The new incentives are awaiting final government approval.

Malta’s medieval former capital Mdina was used in the first season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” as the location for King’s Landing, the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms.

The island’s first local feature film with international ambitions “Simshar,” which revolves around the story of a Maltese fishing boat which blows up leaving its crew stranded in open water, will have its premiere in Malta on April 27. It is directed by Rebecca Cremona and produced by Leslie Ann Lucey through Kukumajsa Productions.

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