In order to support partnerships between the Philippines and fellow member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) through its FilmPhilippines Office (FPO) has launched the ASEAN Co-production Fund (ACOF).
The ACOF is a selective fund that will support every selected project with up to $150,000 (approximately P7.2 million), provided that the co-production involves a Philippine company registered with the FDCP’s National Registry and at least one company from an ASEAN country such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
The ACOF, which will select up to two projects per cycle, will have three cycles in 2021: 1st Application Period – Jan. 4 to March 31, with Selection Committee deliberations in April; 2nd Application Period – May 3 to July 30, with Selection Committee deliberations in August; and 3rd Application Period – Sept. 1 to Nov. 29, with Selection Committee deliberations in December.
Eligible projects are feature films of more than 80 minutes with a director of ASEAN nationality minority or majority co-producing with the Philippines. They must have a distribution guarantee or deal memorandum for a theatrical or video-on-demand (VOD) release in the Philippines or for a minority Filipino co-production, a distribution guarantee for a theatrical/VOD release in the country of origin. As for the ACOF spending, at least 50 percent of the fund must be spent in the Philippines in accordance with Qualifying Philippine Production Expenses (QPPE).
A project is considered ineligible if it has received or solicited another grant from the FDCP such as the Film Location Incentive Program (FLIP) or International Co-production Fund (ICOF). Additionally, the project must apply for the first time to ACOF.
The latest FilmPhilippines incentive program also aims to enhance the Filipino cast and crew, encourage the ASEAN film industry to thrive in global film markets and festivals, and promote the Philippines as a filming destination with a one-stop-shop services desk for film and television productions in the country.
In fact, an application to the ACOF automatically entitles the applicant to avail of the FilmPhilippines’ Film Location Engagement Desk (FLEX) that taps into the FDCP’s inter-agency government support network to help foreign and local audiovisual projects aiming to work in the Philippines with securing visas, work permits, location permits, partnerships with local crew and production companies, and other production logistics requirements.
Applicant producers are advised to contact the FPO before their productions commence to discuss their projects and explore details surrounding the ACOF. For more information, visit www.filmphilippines.com or e-mail [email protected].