What is the Victorian Screen Incentive?
The Victorian Screen Incentive (VSI) program is an economic development initiative that offers grants to attract footloose screen projects to undertake production and/or post-production activities in Victoria.
Background
The Victorian Screen Incentive (VSI) offers grants to encourage producers to bring their film, television and games projects to Victoria across all sectors of the screen industry including physical production, post-production, VFX, animation and games.
The incentive operates as a simple grant paid upon the completion of the project.
Grants can be combined with the Australian Screen Production Incentive, including the Location Offset, Location Incentive PDV Offset, Producer Offset and Official Co-productions.
The VSI is designed to increase the level of screen production activities in Victoria and create employment opportunities for Victorian screen industry practitioners and businesses.
Objectives
The objectives of VSI are to:
- attract interstate and international screen production and businesses to Victoria
- increase the volume of screen production in Victoria
- increase employment and skills development opportunities for Victorian-based screen industry practitioners
- build screen businesses, innovation and entrepreneurs
- increase business activity for Victorian based companies, including screen industry services, equipment providers and related industries
- increase economic activity in Victoria.
Funding
The Victorian Screen Incentive grants are calculated on a case-by-case basis as a percentage of Qualifying Victorian Expenditure incurred on a project which includes:
- payments to Victorian screen practitioners, residents, or companies for goods or services provided in Victoria in connection with the project
- salaries and expenses paid to, or incurred in relation to, any Victorian residents engaged on the project.
Projects may receive a VSI grant of up to 10% of the Qualifying Victorian Expenditure.
Eligible Projects
Projects must:
- be one of the following:
- fiction – feature film, large format feature, telemovie, mini-series, pilot or series; or
- documentary – feature film, large format feature, television one-off or series; or
- light entertainment series (including reality, lifestyle) that showcases Victorian locations, culture and/or lifestyle, and has the potential to contribute to the visitor economy; or
- digital game that is designed primarily for entertainment.
- meet the following minimum Expenditure requirement thresholds:
- Physical production, or physical and post-production
- Animation
- Post-production
- VFX only
- Games
- be considered footloose, where:
- there are genuine interstate or international destination alternatives for the proposed activities; and/or
- for games – the intellectual property was not created by a Victorian company, and the single largest investor (or majority of funding) is from a non-Victorian publisher or financier.
- be fully financed (excluding the Location Incentive, where applicable)
- have genuine marketplace interest for commercial release or distribution of the project
- have a budget that includes, at least, minimum Australian industry award rates for industry practitioners involved in the Victorian work.
Applications must be approved by Film Victoria prior to commencing the activities for which an incentive is being sought.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants can be:
- production company or studio with the rights to produce a project; or
- a Victorian post-production house, animation studio, VFX facility, or digital games studio that is bidding on a project from an interstate or international production company or studio.
Timing
Applications open on an ongoing basis.
