(MTI) - Andrew G Vajna said increased emphasis will be placed on film scripts in the new film subsidy and production system. A five-member expert committee will decide which projects should be given support, he added.
The film fund will provide financing to 3-4 feature films this year and an annual 8-10 films from 2012. Close cooperation will be established with the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA) for supporting television films, shorts, documentaries and animation films, Vajna said.
Vajna said the new fund would currently have access to 2 billion forints (EUR 7.6m) from the central budget but more funding may become available in the future. A consolidation fund will be set up to settle unpaid subsidies, he added.
The main goal of the new system will be to attract audiences in Hungary and abroad, to have people "return to Hungarian films," he said. It is also important to create transparency, he added.
Legislative changes are still underway for the new film subsidy system, so the new fund is expected to be set up in late May, Vajna said.
Agnes Havas, Vajna's advisor, said the Hungarian National Film Fund will be set up by the Hungarian State Holding Company. It will also have international activities, such as representing European Union support schemes in Hungary, sending Hungarians films to festivals abroad and organising international distribution of Hungarian films, she added.
Financial advisor Karoly Radnai said a two-phase film subsidy system will be introduced. Up to 150 million forints (EUR 568,000) or 50 percent of a film's budget will be granted in the first phase. Subsidies granted in a second phase will have much stricter conditions with the fund demanding more control over the production, he added.
There will be no funding available retroactively but a 20 percent tax allowance will be maintained on films, Radnai said.
The film companies MAFILM and MAFILM Audio, including their assets, will be transferred to the fund, as well as the Hungarian Film Laboratories, MOKEP and its assets, and the National Film Archives' film copyrights.
Vajna said he wanted to maintain support to art cinemas but details need to be prepared. A new television channel is planned in cooperation between the film fund and the film archives.
Vajna announced last Thursday that the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary (MMKA) would cease to exist after it had accumulated excessive debts due to mismanagement.
In February, Vajna said in an interview to MTI that a system for the industry must be worked out "which follows the path of every forint." Other European nations constantly renew their film financing systems, but the Hungarian system has remained unchanged for almost 20 years, thus it is time to look into how to make it more efficient, he said.
