The GREEK FILM CENTRE(GFC) provides several public funding programs aiming at the total protection, support and development of film production in Greece. GFC funds fiction, documentary and animation projects, both feature and shorts, for established and upcoming filmmakers. Foreign productions can benefit by the Minority Program of the GFC, but also by the Location Scouting Support Program of the Hellenic Film Commission.

Minority Program

Deadline for applications: 30/04/2023 and 31/10/2023

The Minority program provides funding for projects (fiction, documentaries and animation, with a minimum duration of 70min.) originating outside Greece, but with a Greek minority co-producer and Greek participation in either cast, crew, labs and/or shooting in Greece. Eligible for this program are foreign projects that have secured 50% or more of their financing, including state/public funding or TV finance.

The program refers to two (2) distinct categories:

  1. International co-productions originating from countries which are member states of the Council of Europe signatory of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production or states with which Greece has signed a transnational treaty (Canada, China, France, Israel) or will conclude one in the future. In the bilateral co-productions, the Greek co-producer must participate with at least 20% and in the multilateral co-productions with at least 10%. Once Greece ratifies the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production, the minimum percentage of the Greek co-producer for co-productions with the member states of the Council of Europe will be 10% for the bilateral co-productions and 5% for the multilateral.
  2. International co-productions originating from countries which have not signed the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production and with which Greece has not signed a transnational treaty.

In both categories, producers can apply either for a grant (up to 30.000€) or for financing in exchange for exploitation rights (up to 100.000€).

Location Scouting Support Program

Applications all year long

The Location Scouting Support Program is addressed to feature films and documentaries, with a minimum duration of 70 min., as well as TV drama series and TV documentaries of foreign initiative that are interested in conducting preliminary location scouting in our country. Eligible to apply for the program are Greek co-producers (sole proprietorship or legal entity) or Greek production companies (sole proprietorship or legal entity) which are active and operate in order to produce audiovisual works as long as they have the corresponding taxation code and they are contracted with the foreign production company for conducting the location scouting.

Eligible projects:

  1. International projects, the scripts of which could be shot in Greece, with a Greek co-producer as a minority partner
  2. International projects, the scripts of which could be shot in Greece, without a Greek co-producer as a minority partner but with the commitment of collaborating, during the location scouting, with a Greek production company (sole proprietorship or legal entity) that is active and operates in order to produce audiovisual works as long as it has the corresponding taxation code.

For both eligible categories projects, the prerequisites are:

  1. Minimum shooting days in Greece:
  2. fifteen (15) days for fiction feature films and TV drama series
  3. seven (7) days for documentaries and TV documentaries
  4. Minimum estimated expenses to be incurred in Greece in case the project gets produced in the country: 50.000 euro

The maximum amount of the subsidy for the location scouting is set up to 10.000 euro.

Find out more about the Location Scouting Support Program here


Additional funding sources through the GREEK FILM CENTRE

SEE CINEMA NETWORK

The GREEK FILM CENTREis founding member of the South Eastern Europe Cinema Network(SEE CINEMA NETWORK), a well-established film institution that seeks to develop collaboration between cinema professionals in its member states (currently 13 member states). To this end, it supports a) the Development of international co-productions and b) the Production of short films. Since 2003 SEE CINEMA NETWORK has supported more than 115 international co-productions.

Greece is a signatory of the 1992 European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production and has already signed the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production (revised), which is subject to ratification. Greece has also bilateral co-production agreements with Canada, France, Israel and China. It is a member of the European co-production fund EURIMAGES and the EU Creative Europe Program / MEDIA sub-program.