Jordan Sweetens the Pot With Muscular 45% Cash Rebate – and the Royals Are on Set to Prove It
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan has catapulted itself to the vanguard of the global production race, unveiling a tiered cash-rebate program that returns up to 45% of local spend to filmmakers, alongside an automatic exemption from the kingdom’s 16% value added tax and 10% withholding tax — amounting to total savings of up to 56% of eligible spend.
The beefed-up scheme, quietly approved by the government in May and trumpeted at the Cannes Festival, also halves the minimum-spend threshold to just $250,000 and is already “a game-changer,” Royal Film Commission (RFC) managing director Mohannad al-Bakri tells Variety.
“We studied every rival territory, from Abu Dhabi to Australia, and decided we had to out-incentivize them,” Al-Bakri says. “Between the rebate, zero taxes, and crews that can step straight onto a Marvel set, Jordan is now the region’s most cost-effective option.”
Under the new tiers, foreign or local shoots start at a 25% rebate and can climb to 45% by hitting “cultural uplift” targets such as hiring Jordanian department heads, showcasing Jordanian landscapes, or agreeing to on-camera promotional placements.
The cash rebate is capped at $5.25 million per project but hgher caps may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Crucially, paperwork is processed within 150 days, a timeline communications and culture manager Ahmad al-Khatib says is “unheard-of in the region.”
“We’ve slashed the bureaucracy,” he notes. “Gear can clear customs in 24 hours, visas are bundled, and our liaison desk walks producers through every permit, whether it’s a drone shot over Petra or a stampede across Wadi Rum.”
A Royal Assist
Government buy-in runs all the way to the top. Princess Rym Ali, president of the Amman International Film Festival (AIFF), was front-row at this week’s pitching sessions, while her husband Prince Ali bin Al Hussein chairs the RFC board. King Abdullah II himself doesn’t just sign decrees, he shows up on set.
Prince Ali describes the film sector as “crucial” to Jordan’s broader cultural strategy, emphasizing that the royal family’s long-term vision has always been to encourage filmmaking as both a creative and economic engine. “What we want is to use that experience to continue building our own industry, whether it’s reaching the Oscars with our own films or creating a space where people have the freedom to tell their stories,” he shares.
Al-Bakri recounts the day a foreign reality-adventure series borrowed vintage military “Willys” jeeps from the palace. When no one could get them running, the monarch “dropped in by chopper, did a quick donut on the sand dune and said, ‘That’s how you drive it.’” The crew, he adds with a grin, “put down their walkie-talkies and applauded. It was one of those only-in-Jordan moments.”
From Mars to the ‘Spain of the Middle East’
Jordan has long lured blockbusters: “Dune,” “Star Wars,” “The Martian,” with its other-planet deserts and five-hour drive from up north down to the Red Sea. Recent films that shot in Jordan take in Cherien Dabis’ “All That’s Left of You” and Annemarie Jacir’s “Palestine ’36” with Jeremy Irons and Liam Cunningham.
But the new rebate “finally makes us price-competitive,” Al-Bakri argues, adding that Saudi shoots now hire Jordanian crews for up to 90% of below-the-line jobs. The RFC ran 21 international familiarization tours last year alone. Producers dine with ministers in Amman, then chopper to canyon vistas before sunset.
Prince Ali highlights the unique value Jordan offers filmmakers: “We have all these different kinds of topographies in a relatively small area, which means there’s so much accessibility for filmmakers to come and shoot scenes in different environments,” he says. “But most importantly, it’s the people. Our crews are experienced, educated and ready. You don’t need to move an entire team in.”
For locals, the upside is tangible. When Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” shot in Wadi Rum, camps replicated Matt Damon’s inflatable habitat. Overnight tourism in the area has since soared 400%. One Bedouin fixer “built an apartment and paid for a wedding thanks to “Dune” day rates,” Al-Khatib says. To spread the wealth, the RFC operates six training hubs outside Amman, even sponsoring English classes so guides can pivot from film to tourism when the trucks roll out.
Spain, Korea … and Jordan?
Long term, the kingdom wants to be “the Spain or [South] Korea of the Arab world,” Al-Khatib says, pointing to Netflix originals “Jinn” and “Al-Rawabi School for Girls,” and Oscar-nominated thriller “Theeb,” which was developed with support from the RFC. New cash makes the RFC an “executive producer who doesn’t want its money back,” he jokes. The government essentially bankrolls a chunk of every slate in return for jobs, skills transfer and screen-tourism dollars.
Prince Ali envisions steady growth over the next decade. “Hopefully, we want to continue building on it,” he says. “We have our studio, we have the locations, and there’s international curiosity about this part of the world. In Jordan, filmmakers are free to tell the stories they want. We don’t read scripts, for example. So it’s about experience. Come here, enjoy it and create.”
Pipeline Under Wraps
The geopolitics of the Middle East still spook some insurers and several major features “paused” after recent flare-ups in the region. Yet the RFC says a sequel to “a very big franchise” has already signed contingent contracts under the new deal. Details are classified for now, though this reporter was promised an off-the-record reveal at AIFF’s rooftop soiree.
With a 45% rebate — in hard cash, not tax credits — crew depth honed over 60 years of TV production, and a king who hand-delivers vintage jeeps, Jordan’s pitch is alluring. As Al-Bakri sums up: “Cash is king, but in Jordan the King is also king, and he’s on our call sheet.”
