The Chamber of Deputies has addressed today the discussion on the general lines of the unified text of reform of Law 220/2016 (Cinema and Audiovisual Law). The measure, born from the convergence of five separate legislative proposals and unanimously approved in the Culture Committee, represents an attempt to offer the entire industrial chain and international partners a stable framework of rules, transparent and with reliable delivery timing.
The heart of the reform lies in the deep reorganization of the management institutions of the Fund for the Development of Cinema and Audiovisual Investments. The provision introduces the birth of the Agency for Cinema and Audiovisual, a public entity with full organizational autonomy, financial and management aimed at taking over the operational skills currently in charge of the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture. The goal of this model, inspired by large European system agencies such as the French CNC, is to streamline the bureaucratic structure and ensure financial planning on a three-year basis, as well as ensuring maximum timeliness in cash flows for businesses.
In parallel, the text revises the tax credit for production. While confirming the centrality of the tax credit as the main lever for attracting investment, the reform introduces much more defined selectivity parameters and a modulation of rates between 15% and 40%. The new award-winning architecture is designed to primarily support independent production companies, linking access to public funds to precise constraints: the guarantee of creating employment on the national territory, the obligation to ensure a real distribution of the work at the cinema or on streaming platforms, and the actual spending of a prevalent share of the budget in Italy.
To complete the project, the measure extends the scope of tax incentives also to the video game and digital works sector, and provides for the operational integration between Cinecittà and the Experimental Center for Cinematography for the creation of an audiovisual pole of excellence. It also sets strict rules of transparency in the field of Artificial Intelligence, to protect the centrality of human creativity and copyright.
The evolution of the legislative framework adopted today in the Chamber is bound to have a direct impact on companies’ financial strategies and the structuring of international co-productions. The introduction of more defined criteria for selectivity and the alignment of procedures with European transparency standards aim to make the national economic and financial environment more robust, offering greater guarantees of reliability both for foreign partners involved in cofunding, both for international productions that choose Italy as their executive hub.
Photo Credits: Foto di Felix Mooneeram su Unsplash
