Specializing in European co-productions, Vienna-based boutique shingle Pont Pictures is spearheading an innovative initiative to boost international collaborations by leveraging Austrian film funding incentives.
Pont Pictures head Philipp Mair Vargas has unveiled a model that utilizes the 60% co-production incentive offered by the Austrian Film Institute’s ÖFI Plus subsidy program to help filmmakers overcome what he describes as one of the most significant challenges in independent filmmaking: closing their financing gap.
By strategically allocating and relocating production costs to Austria, Mair Vargas promises that 60% of the Austrian spend can be covered by the national incentive program even without actual shooting days in the country. Instead, filmmakers can qualify by outsourcing post-production to Austria or hiring Austrian crew members who work on location elsewhere, Mair Vargas points out.
“For example, if a project is short €250,000, we allocate an overall Austrian spend of €416,000. With 60% of these costs covered by our co-production incentive, only €166,000 needs to be allocated to Austria. This allows us to close a €250,000 gap with minimal additional financial burden to the production.”
Pont Pictures’ model is non-recoupable and cash-flowed, eliminating the need for producers to borrow money against the grant or pay interest fees, making it even more attractive, he adds.
To qualify for the incentive and Pont Pictures’ gap financing, projects must meet Austria’s cultural requirements, including:
• A story that takes place in the European Union, which is treated as a single cultural territory by the Austrian Film Institute;
• At least one main character that has European roots or a European background.
Pont Pictures recently used the financing model when it partnered with Ireland’s Fantastic Films and Vienna-based Horse & Fruits on Glenn McQuaid’s thriller “The Restauration at Grayson Manor,” starring Chris Colfer and Alice Krige. Pont Pictures brought the project to Austria, utilizing the country’s 60% co-production incentive to close its financing gap. The collaboration enabled the film to complete its funding and shoot last summer.
“Fantastic Films is delighted to be working with Pont Pictures and Horse & Fruits on our queer movie, ‘The Restoration at Grayson Manor,’” says Brendan McCarthy of Fantastic Films. “ÖFI’s minority co-production funding perfectly complemented our partners — Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, RTE Television and world sales agents Bankside Films — and opened the door to incredible filmmaking talent in Austria.”
Mair Vargas adds: “This test drive affirmed the viability of our model and its potential to support a wide range of European filmmakers. Our mission is to remove financial barriers while fostering creative collaboration across borders.”
Pont Pictures is currently developing two co-productions with international partners that it plans to shoot later this year: “Fractal,” a time-loop thriller about a toxic relationship that leads to murder, and “Amygdalla,” described as an elevated horror pic that plays with hyperrealism.
Co-produced with Mark O’Sullivan’s London-based shingle DLNQNT and set to be presented at EFM, “Fractal” will shoot entirely in Austria as an Austrian-British co-production with post set for the U.K. Written and directed by Faisal Hashmi, the production has so far cast two of its three main roles with Eidin Jalali and Gabriela Garcia Vargas. The Movie Partnership has already acquired rights to the pic for the U.K. and Australia.
Mair Vargas is also partnering with Leeona Duff of Ireland’s Up on Blue Bridge Prods. on “Amygdala.” The €1.8 million Austrian-Irish co-production, co-directed by Adriana Mrnjavac and Nicole Stigler, is set in Ireland but will shoot largely in Vienna.
Mair Vargas, who is hosting a panel discussion on the Austrian incentive program at Berlin’s Soho House on Feb. 13, says he’s aiming to support “low-budget, high-return projects with a focus on creative integrity and audience impact.”
By leveraging Austria’s incentive programs in innovative ways, Pont Pictures can support filmmakers complete their projects and elevate European cinema on the global stage, he adds.
