Recent Development
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Supporting the Film Industry (“Regulation“) prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (“Ministry“) entered into force after publication in the Official Gazette on January 28, 2021. The Regulation updates some of the procedures and principles for the development of the film industry.
What’s New?
The Regulation introduced the following changes of note:
- In order for the parties who request financial support to a single payment, they must present a letter of guarantee equal to the support amount. The letter must be prepared in accordance with Article 10 of the Law on the Procedure for Collection of Public Receivables No. 6183 for financial support of feature-length fiction movie productions, feature-length motion picture movie productions, co-productions, post-productions, and distributions, promotions and screenings of domestic movies.
- Movie theaters receiving financial support within the scope of the Regulation on Supporting the Film Industry are obliged to screen at least six movies within one year from the signing date of the support agreement, each for at least one week and for a total screening period of at least twelve weeks.
- At least two of the movies should be screened after 4 pm. The movie theaters must offer three screening sessions of each movie a day in movie theaters containing at least fifty seats, for commercial purposes.
- The annual financial support provided by the Ministry will not exceed 30% of the revenue obtained from the full ticket amount if the movie theater operates at full capacity for three sessions.
- Fifty percent of the financial support will be paid after the signing of the support agreement and the remaining 50% after the movie screening and the invoices, payrolls for screenings and the receipt showing that the producer shares have been paid are approved by the General Directorate of Cinema.
Conclusion
Movie theaters have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Regulation guarantees certain government support and reformulates the obligations of movie theaters benefiting from the support. In this context, the Regulation regulates that in certain circumstances a letter of guarantee equal to the financial support must be presented as a guarantee and movie theaters benefiting from the support must screen at least six movies within one year from the signing of the support agreement in order to receive support.
