We’ve seen more and more locations enter the market in attempts to lure location shoots and film/TV projects to their locales over the last few years. Now it’s time to add Singapore to the pile, too. With the announcement of a $7.5M TV and Film Fund to court international productions that highlight the country as a travel destination, there’s even more scope for those looking for appealing shoot destinations. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, has the details.
The Fund
Established as a joint venture between the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the fund is accessible to all international entertainment/media companies making global content that will highlight Singapore’s appeal. Potential projects will be evaluated for market reach, distribution agreements, concept and ‘creative merit’, as well as how much focus on the area is shown on screen and how much local talent is used in credited roles. Successful projects will have up to 30% of qualifying costs (again with the ‘related to featuring Singapore’ caveat) returned, including marketing and production costs. To qualify, the project needs to launch by Q1 in 2027.
The Destination Boom
In fairness, unlike some of the tax incentives we’ve seen leveraged to attract location shoots both within US borders and internationally, the new fund has a limited budget and clear focus. But the Singapore On-Screen Fund, as it is being named, shares a common feature with other such incentives we’ve seen launched- the urge to get themselves a slice of the ever-more lucrative destination shoot boom. With an acceleration in ‘content creation’ across streaming platforms, it was inevitable we’d see the demand for shoot space increase, both for soundstages and location shoots. We expect to see even more incentives like this arise globally as the demand accelerates.
Film and Television 