Canary Islands.- Last Wednesday, 14 of February, the international campus L’Idem Barcelona hosted the second Animayo Forum for Investment and Financing for Animation Film, Visual Effects and Video games in Gran Canaria. A total of 36 production companies from the animation industry participated in the event that was created in close collaboration with the Economic Promotion Company of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) and the Gran Canaria Film Commission.
The initiative is aimed at companies and professionals from the sector with the aim of fostering and promoting investment and the financing of companies and projects for film, television and new platforms in Gran Canaria. Among these advantages offered by the island are the tax benefits that are 20 points better than the rest of the national territory. They include a 40 percent direct tax deduction (tax rebate) for foreign productions and up to 40-45 percent tax deduction for national productions and co-productions (tax credit), and for companies that decide to create a permanent establishment in the Canary Islands, taxed at 4 percent in corporate tax. It is also important to stress that the projects made in Gran Canaria will comply with the “European Programming Quota”.
Thanks to these advantages offered by the territory of Gran Canaria, companies from the animation sector are interested in setting up on the Island. Gran Canaria already has specific degrees and courses for the digital content sector, as well as offering tailored courses for those companies that want to set up on the island, and so local talent will be easy to find. In addition, Gran Canaria offers an incomparable quality of life, with average temperature of 22º C the whole year round, a lower cost of living than other regions and global capitals, security and excellent connectivity. The support should also be noted from the local public administrations to the companies that want to set up on the island.
Producers, consultants and tax experts, as well as the representative of the Gran Canaria Film Commission were present at the Animayo Barcelona Forum “Investment and Financing of animation films and visual effects”, which featured the panel: “Taxation and other advantages for the audiovisual sector in Gran Canaria”.
The panellists were: Nuria Guinnot (GCFC Coordinator), representative of the Gran Canaria Film Commission, responsible for showing the advantages offered by the island to the audiovisual industry, in particular for the sectors of animation, VFX and videogames; Jaime Sanz (Tax Lawyer expert in Audiovisual), who reported on the operation, the legal certainty and the requirements to be eligible for tax incentives for audiovisual production in the Canary Islands; Monica Doreste, (senior technician ZEC – Canary Islands Special Zone), who presented another tax incentive for companies that decide to create a permanent establishment on the island.