Index

CO-PRODUCTIONS AND CO-VENTURES

As Canadian producers of film and television programming, Cinegraphe is interested in co-producing with partners around the world. Canada has signed co-production treaties with a large number of countries. Each treaty lays down the rules of co-production and these rules must be satisfied before a co-production can go ahead.

REIMBURSABLE TAX CREDITS

Cinegraphe has access to various provincial tax credits, in particular the Quebec tax credit (base & bonuses) at up to 65%, the New Brunswick at 40%, and the Nova Scotia tax credit at 50% respectively. With the right mix of tax credits, we could theoretically finance a maximum of approximately 42% of your total budget from tax credits alone!

The Quebec tax credit applies to all manpower costs including shooting personnel, film development, sound transfers, mixing studios, and even foreign manpower costs (if billed by individuals)... Yes, even the fee for your director of photography from Amsterdam, Paris or L.A. is admissible, if it is paid to an individual by the Quebec co-producer. Other provincial tax credits are resident specific, meaning that manpower must be resident in the province for which you claim the tax credit. It usually takes several months to get an evaluation of the tax credit and a government letter of credit for financing.

MINORITY CO-PRODUCTION FINANCING

Cinegraphe is particularly interested in co-producing with partners who already have financing in place for feature and documentary projects. The Quebec film agency (SODEC) has a minority co-production fund for just this kind of collaboration. After reviewing your project and determining the additional funding required, Cinegraphe may decide to take a minority position in the equity of your film. Cinegraphe will then raise a certain number of presales with distributors, Canadian broadcasters, and other funding agencies.

NEW PRODUCTION SERVICES TAX CREDIT

If a co-production is not possible or desirable, then production service tax credits can be very advantageous. To benefit from these tax credits, you need to shoot a substantial portion of your film in Canada. On June 12, 2009 the Quebec production services tax credit was increased to 25% of total Quebec spend. (Note there is an additional 5% for special effects work). This is almost double every other provincial manpower-based tax credit in Canada.

So together with the federal tax credit of 16% of Canadian manpower, you would get a rebate of up to 29.0% of your total Quebec spend. These tax credits are financed by Canadian banks at low interest rates since reimbursement can take time.

CLOSING THE DEAL

The majority of feature film projects never go into production because the producers cannot close the deal. It takes imagination and a good deal of flexibility to close the financing on a film. Our priority at Cinegraphe is to close the finance and make the movie. We are very good at doing this.