Beyond 2024-Christopoulos: Through EKOME, we show Greece to the world – Economic Post

Leonidas Christopoulos, president of the National Center for Audiovisual Media and Communication, the organization that welcomes international productions to Greece, spoke to OT about the great investment potential in the audio-visual field.

“And not only that, as EKOME is based on three pillars of activity, audiovisual literacy and education, the digitization of the country’s archives and its emergence as the main financial tool for domestic productions and the attraction of investments for foreign productions in our country”, explained Mr. Christopoulos from the OT studio on the sidelines of the leading innovation and technology exhibition Beyond 2024, which is being held in Thessaloniki.

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After the production of films that have been shown inside and outside of Greece, series that have gained the interest of the international audience and productions that have also won awards, the artistic activity appears strengthened. “It is no coincidence that in the pipeline at the moment we have several investment projects for which applications have already been submitted. After yesterday’s passing of the “Creative Greece” bill, however, there will be a pause for new applications so that we can look at the old ones and review the funding plan.”

In such programs, moreover, it is a universal “curse” that the interest of investors is such that the volume of applications made is not tolerable. As Mr. Christopoulos specifically mentioned, “until the autumn it was deemed necessary to stop new applications and we will prepare the new ecosystem that will be based on three sectors: television and cinema, animation and AR/VR for new augmented reality and animation films, as well as for digital games”.

Does one venue win, does someone else lose?

Digital gaming is a gigantic industry worldwide with extremely large potential. “Until now there were few applications because the rules were not very friendly to gamers – now with the new bill they get their own rules, like for example getting an advance to develop their own ‘pilot’ games.”

However, it is not necessary for one sector to win and another to lose. The rationale is that “the bill includes three distinct aid regimes so that we can choose to use up resources as needed. We thus make it possible to have more money for different aspects in the audiovisual space, as long as the fiscal conditions are right.”

The footprint

According to the president of EKOME, “from 2019 until today, Greece has given 112 million to audiovisual productions while it has received 350 million. This means that we return 40% and there is a 60% that has been invested in the country. In addition to these, there are taxes and contributions that return to the state, while film tourism is increasing more and more – there is also a relevant provision and reference in the new bill, as all these have multiplier benefits for the country’s GDP itself.”

With the possibilities of this specific form of tourism also being important, the bill established that a film office will be created in each region to facilitate anyone who wants to make investments.

There is great interest from foreign productions for different parts of Greece, from Thessaloniki, islands and Crete – big projects have already been shot that we will soon see on platforms – and of course Athens. “After the Prime Minister’s trip to India, there has also been interest from Bollywood – regardless of one’s aesthetic, showing Greece to 1.5 billion people is an important prospect,” concluded Mr. Christopoulos.