FIFO 2025. The audiovisual industry in French Polynesia struggles to structure itself in order to attract foreign production companies carrying large-scale projects. A bill is currently under consideration in the Polynesian assembly to boost the sector. It would introduce tax and financial incentives to encourage productions to invest and shoot in the islands. Local professionals are eagerly awaiting this bill and agree on the need to create a film office in French Polynesia. This film office would serve as the sole point of contact for foreign productions.
In French Polynesia, the government aims to revitalize the audiovisual sector by making it more attractive to foreign production companies with ambitious projects. To achieve this, the government plans to implement several measures, and a bill is currently under review in the Polynesian assembly. This bill proposes a VAT exemption and the establishment of a specific subsidy, subject to conditions. The goal is to attract large audiovisual projects by offering stronger incentives.
“I want to clarify that only production companies holding accreditation will be eligible for these subsidies, and the projects must be led by local companies. An international production must first partner with a production company based in French Polynesia for co-production,” emphasizes Raimana Lallemant-Moe, interim director of the General Directorate of Digital Economy (DGEN). He continues: “We are talking about relatively significant projects of at least 100 million francs that must be spent in the territory.”
However, as he notes, this grant will only be provided at the end of the project. “The foreign production can receive a subsidy once the project is completed. It amounts to 15% of the expenses resulting from VAT-exempt operations. But this rate can increase up to 20% for expenses exceeding 200 million Fcfp,” explains Raimana Lallemant-Moe.
This ambitious bill has been eagerly awaited by local audiovisual professionals for over a decade to help develop the sector. “This project aims for VAT exemption on the delivery of goods and services related to film or documentary production. This will allow a broad range of local operators to participate and reduce the final cost of films,” emphasizes the DGEN.
With this fiscal component and direct financial aid, the government hopes to spark interest among major foreign productions to choose French Polynesia as their shooting location. A minor caveat in the bill is that not all expenses will be eligible for exemption. It will be up to the productions to refer to the decrees listing the services that can be exempt from VAT.
For every 120 Fcfp spent by a production, it generates 480 Fcfp for the territory.
The proposed law with incentive measures will finally allow French Polynesia to position itself at the regional and international level. Laurent Jacquemin from Filmin’Tahiti, a local production company, explains: “Until now, few large productions come to Tahiti because we don’t offer any support. If they go to neighboring countries, they will get subsidies. These are economic choices. The only ones who stay here are mainly for subjects they can’t shoot elsewhere, like the Teahupo’o wave, which can’t be filmed anywhere else.”
Jone Robertson, CEO of Film Fiji, shares his experience on the topic: “Without all the fiscal incentives in Fiji, there would be no production or filming here. We have two fiscal levers to attract producers: one is fiscal, and the other is financial, where we provide 20% financial support as a reimbursement offer. They are paid monthly to support the sector. And without these tax breaks, we would never have been able to host big Hollywood stars. There are films that should have been shot in Tahiti, but they chose Fiji for our advantages because French Polynesia offered nothing to support productions. The first question that all producers ask upfront is: ‘Do you have any advantages, subsidies, fiscal incentives?’ And that’s why they come to shoot with us.”
The same observation comes from Réunion Island, where money remains the driving force. Estelle Jomaron-Galabert, president of the Film Réunion Agency, explains: “We’ve branded ourselves as a shooting destination to attract external productions. We invite German, French, and English producers… and we show them around Réunion. We promise them they can shoot anything here. There is a film ‘Terrible Jungle’ with Catherine Deneuve and Jonathan Cohen, which is set 100% in the Amazon, but it is filmed 100% in Réunion. Some might say it’s cheating, but it’s here that they spent their money. To do this, we attracted them with a support fund. They can receive up to 300,000 euros (36 million Fcfp) in aid, and we can increase this amount based on the expenses they promise to incur in their forecast plan. Of course, it has to meet a number of criteria, but that’s how we attract them. They can be eligible for up to 500,000 or 600,000 euros (60 to 72 million Fcfp) for larger projects, but they must commit to significant spending on the territory.”
Fiji and Réunion both assert that for every euro (120 Fcfp) spent by a production company in their territories, it generates 4 euros (480 Fcfp) that return to their countries’ coffers, whether through accommodation, car rentals, or even plane tickets.
Setting up more commissions
Incentive measures and support funds are necessary to boost the audiovisual sector. Another important point for developing audiovisual production is the need to create a film office, a production office. This office would list all the technicians, directors, or producers in the audiovisual field and act as the sole point of contact for foreign companies.
The film office would serve as an interface, offering external productions support throughout the preparation of their shoots. A true cornerstone, the film office would facilitate the reception of audiovisual production companies and enhance the visibility and image of French Polynesia. “In French Polynesia, if you want to move forward, you absolutely need an agency that would bring all the professionals together and mediate between the government, institutions, and professionals,” insists Estelle Jomaron-Galabert.
Jone Robertson adds: “You can’t progress without incentive measures and additional commissions.” In Réunion, a commission meets every two months to review between 25 and 30 projects. In French Polynesia, only one commission meets annually to allocate financial aid to the sector. “It’s just impossible to work like this,” complain local professionals.
Furthermore, according to Jone Robertson, for French Polynesia to develop the audiovisual sector, it must go through a well-organized structure. “Foreign productions require a wide range of services, and if you can’t provide them, it won’t work. It requires many qualified teams and a lot of time. You must remember that these production companies will spend millions and millions in the country’s economy. To succeed, you need to ask yourself how many projects you can take on in a given period to carry them out properly. It will be the commission’s role to manage this well. Productions must leave having had a positive experience, so they’ll come back and invest in your country,” emphasizes the CEO of Film Fiji.
The new law and the creation of a production office are essential to energizing the sector and promoting the destination internationally. Professionals hope to be able to rely on the “reliability” of the local government to finally capture foreign markets.
Laurent Jacquemin : “The day the law is in place, we will go and offer foreign productions the chance to shoot in Polynesia.”
What do you think of this national law?
“Today, we need structuring. There is currently a funding envelope from the SCCA that supports locally initiated productions, mainly intended for local TV stations, but now we’re talking about large-scale projects that would add to this system.
From the beginning, we’ve been working with the authorities. We are the intermediary between the foreign producer and what will happen locally. With this new law, they must go through a local producer to benefit from financial advantages. Someone who comes here, doesn’t know the territory, and wants to create something would be foolish to go it alone, and everyone would lose out. For this, foreign productions need to rely on a local producer who is established here, and I believe everyone will benefit from this. There is an international and regional filming market. There are trade shows where countries sell their locations, their stories, and present themselves to say ‘come shoot here, here’s what we can offer.’ The main argument for them to accept is tax incentives and financial aid. Countries know that a production filming there brings in a lot of money, but it also requires the country to put a little of its own money in.
As long as we don’t have this system in place, we can’t sell our destination at trade shows. Simply because, in terms of taxation, we have nothing to offer. Meanwhile, others are offering 20% tax breaks. The day the law exists, we’ll go to foreign productions and offer them the chance to shoot in French Polynesia, saying ‘here’s what you can gain, here are our locations, here are our local skills, and here’s the support you can get if you choose to shoot here.'”
When the new law comes into effect, will French Polynesia be able to support multiple projects at the same time?
“For now, we can’t. We need to take it step by step. We shouldn’t offer financial incentives that are too high, which would attract too many projects at once, hence the 15 to 20% range. We are in the lower end of what is done worldwide. Normally, it’s 20 or 25%, sometimes more. We’re between 15 and 20%, so we’ll attract those who really want Polynesia but still expect us to offer a small guarantee on-site.”
Does the fenua have enough qualified technicians to meet the demand if multiple projects were to take place at the same time?
“Today, we are capable of hosting a large international project, like a film. We do this regularly. If we had two major projects, they would need to be staggered, meaning one at the beginning of the year and another at the end, otherwise, we wouldn’t have enough technicians. But thanks to these shoots, we will already start developing skills. We will need more technicians, and we will need to help them upskill.”
Jenny Hunter & Vaikehu Shan
French