Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki Film Festival: Last year alone we had 200 productions in our country

The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended and spoke at an event at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where a discussion was also hosted between producers and executives of companies active in audio-visual productions.

The panel included Ferdinand Dohna (DEU), Sam Hoyle (Sky Studios), Peter Nadermann (DEU) Richard Pommérat (N9ne Studio), Veronica Vitali (NETFLIX), Boban Jevtic (Firefly Productions) and Julien Leroux (Paper Entertainment).

Here is the Prime Minister’s full statement (unofficially translated from English):

“I’d like to start by thanking everyone on the panel for taking part in what I’m sure will be an extremely enlightening discussion that will showcase the current landscape of film and television in the world.

If one looks at the quality of the work, which they have helped to promote – with productions such as “The Killing”, “Dr Who”, “Tehran”, “War and Peace”, “Borgia” – it is certain that from discussion will draw a very essential picture that – I am sure – he will not want to lose.

It is a great honor and pleasure for me personally to be here today, at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Thank you all for organizing this event. I was informed of the significant progress that has been made in recent years. And it is significant that I am here today, among the most talented and creative minds in our country and the world.

As you know, the International Film Festival of Thessaloniki is the cornerstone of the modern Greek film industry and – as you pointed out – the dividing line between cinema and television is becoming more and more indiscernible.

And it proves how powerful this industry is today. With a much greater visibility of Greek talents in the international markets, more co-productions and more foreign productions filmed in Greece. Several of them are filmed here in Thessaloniki, dear Mayor, dear Regional Governor. And, as I understand it, more interesting announcements are likely to follow in the coming days.

Last year alone we had 200 productions in our country, including more than 20 Greek feature films and more than 20 television and film productions from major Hollywood studios. This year’s Palme d’Or winner, The Triangle of Sadness, was co-produced by Heretic, a Greek production company, and was shot largely on the island of Evia.

At the same time, Evi Kalogiropoulou’s short film, “On Xerxes’ Throne”, received the Canal+ award in its category, at the Critics’ Week in Cannes. As one film industry magazine noted: “Despite the effects of COVID-19 and the financial crisis of the late 2000s, the Greek film industry has emerged as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.”

Of course, not everyone has the talent to be part of the creative process. But we in government understand that making a film is not just a creative endeavor. It is also an economic venture, which is important for the whole country – this industry directly and indirectly employs over 100,000 people, while certainly having a wider economic impact in many sectors and regions.

From the first moment, we presented a clear strategy that was essentially based on three pillars, aimed at supporting and developing the audiovisual industry, which continues to build on the success it has experienced in recent years.

In all sectors of the economy our goal has always been to create the best possible environment for business and investment. This of course also applies to your industry. Therefore, the first pillar of our strategy revolves around providing incentives, with our country now offering one of the most competitive programs across the EU and having further simplified application and certification processes.

I’m sure many of you know about the incentive program we offer. We didn’t reinvent the wheel. We looked at what other countries were doing and tried to do it a little bit better. We therefore have a cash rebate of 40% on eligible costs incurred by productions in Greek territory, for all audiovisual works. More than 140 million euros were distributed last year. This can be combined with a tax relief incentive of 30% on eligible expenditure.

We have added to these incentives the eligibility of tariffs for contributors who do not reside in Greece, in cases of producers with eligible costs exceeding 8 million – and up to 50% of eligible costs. While there is also the Hellenic Development Bank, which can guarantee bank loans of up to 900,000 euros for the audiovisual sector, and the “Entrepreneurship 360” program, a special state aid program to support audiovisual studios.

Our second pillar is infrastructure. We are aware of the lack of sufficient soundstages (recording studios), which is a challenge and for this reason we know that we need more state-of-the-art infrastructure, which will allow Greece to become the important power in the audio-visual sector that we need to be. There is a lot of interest in this type of investment. And some of them will take place a short distance from where we are right now, in Thessaloniki. And of course I should mention that businesses interested in making such investments can also benefit from extremely low loans from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. These loans have an interest rate of less than 1%, which is extremely competitive given the current interest rate environment.

And of course, the last pillar of our strategy is human capital. Without the right people and especially the right skills, this industry cannot grow.

Thus, the proper upgrading of crew skills, the right workshops for content creation through programs such as the Hellenic Film Center’s “Incubating the Film Industry”, and the development of a national School of Audiovisual Media, these are exactly the tools we want to utilize for to improve the skills, especially for the young talented people we have, to offer their services in the audiovisual industry.

A hundred and fifty kilometers east of here, in the city of Drama, which is known for its own International Short Film Festival, a new audio-visual cluster as well as a film school are being planned to boost start-ups and contribute to cultivation of new talents.

In addition to all this, we are moving towards a simpler, more efficient regulatory framework. The Minister referred to this. We are constantly trying to make the process less complicated so that you can develop business activity in Greece. And this includes a more simplified licensing process, the development of a network of local film offices and the reform of the institutional framework of the industry.

We know there is more we can do to ensure that the Greek film industry receives the investment and funding it deserves. And to ensure that the regulatory framework is simplified to free up producers’ time to do what they do best. That is, to tell the stories we all love to watch and listen to.

However, until today, no major platform had hosted our stories, the stories of Greek creators. But that changed this week, as Netflix announced the acquisition of the worldwide rights to the Greek drama series ‘Maestro’. Congratulations, Mr. Papakaliati. You make us all proud.

We hope that this is only the beginning and that platforms will acquire and – why not – themselves proceed to produce more Greek films and series in the future. We are, of course, very proud of our beautiful scenery and scenery. Greece is a country where not many film productions have been made, which offers unique landscapes. For example, the city of Thessaloniki surprised a lot of people when it was first shown on the screens. But, of course, we’re especially proud of our extremely talented people, and it’s our job to highlight them through the strategy I’ve just described.

After all, the art of storytelling, which is at the core of this amazing event, is deeply embedded in Greek culture. The performing arts were born in Greece. They were born just below the Acropolis, in Athens, when the ancient Greeks first experimented with theater, not only as a form of entertainment, but also as a form of self-reflection.

The discussion we will have today and of course the Thessaloniki International Film Festival show that this tradition remains very much alive in Greece today. It is dynamic and enriched with new ideas. And despite the fact that two millennia have passed, its future continues to be exciting. Thank you for your attention”.

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