Financing a production in its entirety must be impossible without money from the FILM FUND. The subsidy must always be used for the production and its budget as a whole, particularly for international co-productions.

Subsidies are limited to 50 percent of the total production costs or 50 percent of the Austrian share of production costs in the case of international co-productions.

If higher limits for the cumulation of state subsidies are permitted by European law, they shall apply to subsidies awarded according to these Guidelines.

The applicant must contribute an appropriate private investment to the production costs, and this sum cannot be financed by the FILM FUND, another institution which provides subsidies or any other legal person under public law.

The private investment must be appropriate for the production’s size and the applicant’s resources. The private investment can be in the form of private resources, appraised private contributions, distribution or sales guarantees, or revenues from the sale of rights and/or ancillary rights (licenses).

The private resources should amount to at least 5 percent of the net production costs.
External funds will be treated in the same way as private resources if they are made available to the applicant in the form of a loan (e.g. bank loans or loans in kind) to the extent that public funds are not involved.

In the event a subsidy is awarded, applicants consent to publication of data that is relevant to the project (subsidy recipient, project’s title, the type, purpose and amount of the subsidy) by the FILM FUND.

Applicants also consent to the provision of this information to third parties in the course of the functions and activities of the FILM FUND.

After conclusion of a subsidy agreement, applicants agree to point out the fact that their production is being subsidized by the FILM FUND in all publications relating to and mentions of the production, regardless of the medium, in either the opening credits or end titles of the completed film and in all advertising materials whenever this is suitable and reasonable. The FILM FUND’s  logo will be used wherever suitable and reasonable.

The following projects are not eligible for a subsidy:

• projects that violate the applicable law of the European Union or applicable laws or regulations of the Republic of Austria or the State of Vienna;
• films produced for hire for third parties;
• subsidies intended exclusively for parts of a project (e.g. postproduction);
• projects that do not conform to the applicable collective agreements applying to the Austrian film sector.

These guidelines became effective after being approved by the European Commission and can be applied retroactively to all projects for which a subsidy application was submitted in the period of time between the date these Guidelines were published and the date they came into effect, as well as all projects that had received approval of a subsidy but not a subsidy agreement, assuming that both contractual parties agree.