Film Estonia Rebates to Post-Production Lures Foreign Shoots
“We might be small, but we’re quick, flexible, and deeply committed, and that approach makes us truly competitive”,” said the Estonian Film Institute CEO Edith Sepp, as more than 1,700 accredited guests from over 50 countries are pouring into town for the biggest film bash of the year – the Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event.
Sepp is particularly proud of her country’s post-production facilities and crew, “highly skilled, inventive and a pleasure to work with,” she says. “The facilities in Tallinn can handle everything from sound and color to visual effects and the quality is world-class. Our competitiveness is best illustrated by our company Frost FX, which received an Emmy Award for special visual effects in the HBO series “The Penguin,” a great example of how Estonian talent continues to shine globally,’ she insists.
According to the Estonian Film Institute, the cash rebate, notably to post-production only, is a unique advantage, perhaps not so well-known abroad.
To access post-production support, submissions must be made via a local company. The minimum spend is €30,000 ($34,000) to benefit from a 20% tax rebate on eligible production costs, €50,000 ($57,800) for that rebate to reach 25% and €80,000 ($92,000) to be eligible for the maximum 30% rebate available, according to Film Estonia guidelines.
Recent projects that have used solely Film Estonia’s post-production incentive include the Finnish crime show “All the Sins” (Seasons 1, 2, 3) produced by MRP Matila Röhr Productions. Post-services carried out ranged from offline editing by Tambet Tasuja, visual effects by Frost FX, and trailers and creation of promo clips and trailers by Tallinn Postworks, according to Estonian co-production outfit Taska Film.
Another beneficiary was the Icelandic film “Driving Mum” by Hilmar Oddsson, co-produced by Estonia’s Alexandra Film, which hired Estonian sound designers, editor Hendrik Mägar (also attached to Anna Hinds’ Sundance winner “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”) and composer Tõnu Kõrvits. The latter scooped best original score for the film at the 2022 Black Nights Film Festival where “Driving Mum” scored the Grand Prize.
“Post has become the talk of town and separating it from production spend at home, to access foreign incentives, is becoming widespread,” said film commissioner Nele Paves who handles Film Estonia’s total €6.2 million ($7.1 million) annual cash rebate.
“We are super quick, transparent and flexible. We offer auditing after the production, giving rebates then, so that producers don’t have to wait for the last bits of post-production. Decisions and rebates can be obtained within a month, which is unusual for a public fund,” she stressed.
She is now lobbying the Estonian government to up the 30% cap cash rebate, and to open it up to national productions. “We need to keep our talent, and make our incentives even more competitive. Politicians need convincing but we’re hopeful for 2026,” she said.
