The budget amounts to 250,000 euros in the case of the feature film line and 125,000 euros for the short film line, which represents an increase of 25% compared to the budget allocated to this aid in 2022.
The Council of Culture, Tourism and Sports published today in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León (BOCyL) the extracts from the 2023 calls related to the lines of subsidies intended to finance the pre-production, production and distribution of feature films (documentaries and fiction) and pilots for animation and television series, and to promote the creation of short films.
The objective of this aid is to contribute to the development and promotion of the cinematographic and audiovisual sector, through support for certain investments promoted by private individuals or legal entities, who are audiovisual producers of any of these cinematographic modalities, who have their permanent address or registered office in the Community.
For these purposes, a feature film will be considered a cinematographic film, in any medium or support, with a minimum duration of sixty minutes, while a short film may not exceed fifty-nine minutes. For its part, an animated series pilot must have a minimum duration of one minute, while the minimum for a television series pilot will be 30 minutes.
Eligible expenses will include, among others, general personnel and travel expenses, accommodation and maintenance, specific pre-production and production expenses, distribution, promotion and advertising expenses, current expenses derived from carrying out the project and expenses on capital goods. The subsidized actions and the corresponding expenses of both calls must have been carried out in the period between June 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, both inclusive.
The deadline for submitting applications will be 15 business days from the day following the publication of the extract of the calls in the BOCyL, that is, from September 4 to 22, both inclusive.
The procedure for granting these subsidies will be carried out on a competitive basis. The budget amounts to 250,000 euros in the case of the feature film line and 125,000 euros for the short film line, which represents an increase of 25% compared to the budget allocated to this aid in 2022. Furthermore, the possibility of increasing this initial budget by 150,000 euros and 80,000 euros respectively for feature films and short films is expressly foreseen.
Regarding the individual amount, none of the subsidies awarded may exceed 50% of the total budget of the feature film project, with a maximum limit of 60,000 euros per project. In the case of short films these limits are 75% and 25,000 euros.
Advance payments of 35% (feature films) and 25% (short films) of the total amount of the subsidy awarded may be made, upon request of the beneficiaries, in the subsidy application form, without requiring any guarantee to receive the same payment.
The justification of the project subject to subsidy must be produced until August 31, 2024, inclusive. The supporting documentation that must be presented will be that indicated in the regulatory bases of these two calls. Thanks to these same lines of subsidies, in 2022, 10 feature film projects and 7 short films have already benefited.
Improvements in film subsidies
Last May, the Council published in BOCyL various modifications to the bases that regulate these two lines of subsidies. The purpose of these recent regulatory modifications, agreed upon with the film sector in Castilla y León, was to adapt these aids to the experience accumulated in recent years of management and to the reality of the production companies, in order to improve the effectiveness of their management, as well as the quality and viability of the subsidized films.
Specifically, thanks to these improvements, the assessment criteria for granting subsidies will be better suited to the operational needs of films shot in more than one municipality in the Community; they will favor high levels of artistic quality in all subsidized projects, and will imply a more weighted balance between the scores given to artistic quality and value and those that refer strictly to their connection with the Community of Castilla y León.
Support for the film sector
With this type of financial aid, and through its policy of supporting film festivals, its initiatives to attract filming in the territory of the Community (Castilla y León Film Commission) and the continuous promotion of the activity of the Film Archive of Castilla y León, the Council of Culture, Tourism and Sports promotes the development of this important sector of cultural industries.
To the growing relevance of cinematography and the audiovisual sector as an artistic and creative manifestation, we must add its strategic nature as a tool for the promotion of the Spanish language, the generation of wealth and even the tourism promotion of Castilla y León.
The Council thus takes into account the relevance of the film sector, not only for cultural and social reasons, but also because this industry supports a large number of direct jobs (actors, producers, theater staff, technical staff, etc.) and influences other sectors related to this activity, such as the tourism sector, hospitality, printing, advertising or transportation.
