10 years of Screen Flanders economic support propels Flanders’ audiovisual sector to unprecedented heights

Since its launch in 2012, the Screen Flanders Economic Fund has invested almost 49 million euros in 251 audiovisual productions, generating more than 317 million euros in structuring audiovisual spending in the Flanders Region. In just a decade, the measure has helped propel Flanders' audiovisual talent and craftsmanship to unprecedented heights.

Our Flemish audiovisual productions are praised worldwide for their high quality, and this year they can once again count on extra support from Flanders. With this support measure, we want to put Flanders permanently on the map as a creative and high-quality audiovisual region. These investments create additional jobs and further professionalise the sector.

Flanders Minister of Economy Jo Brouns

Some key figures after 10 years of Screen Flanders

Since the creation of the Screen Flanders Economic Fund in 2012, 251 productions have been granted support totalling 48,800,000 euros. This has generated 317,155,275 euros in eligible audiovisual expenditure in the Flanders Region, resulting in an average economic leverage of 6.5 euros for each euro invested.

76% of the supported projects were fiction productions (feature films and series), 4% were documentary productions (feature films and series) and 20% were animation productions (feature films and series). 55% of the supported productions were minority co-productions in which the Flemish or Belgian funding share was less than 50%.

Putting Flanders on the international map as an audiovisual region 

Screen Flanders increases Flanders' attractiveness for foreign productions and strengthens its competitive position compared to other regions. This economic support measure is a vital link in the development and growth of the audiovisual sector in Flanders which, together with the Tax Shelter, ensures an attractive co-production climate. Thanks to these two measures, many prestigious international co-productions have come to Flanders to shoot in authentic locations, to work with top Flemish talent in front of and behind the camera, and to make use of Flanders’ state-of-the-art facilities.

Taking Flemish talent to unprecedented heights 

Thanks to these international co-productions, Flemish talent also gets the chance to develop beyond the country's borders. Examples include the Cannes award-winning film The Eight Mountains, an Italian-French-Belgian film with a Flemish creative core (directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, DOP Ruben Impens and editor Nico Leunen), and the Berlinale-selected Inside, in which Gene Bervoets and Eliza Stuyck star alongside Willem Dafoe. Other examples of prestigious co-productions include the BBC series The White Queen, Les Misérables and The Missing, the Scandinavian series Estonia, State of Happiness and Occupied, the French series L'Opéra and Moloch, and feature films by directors such as Leos Carax (Annette), Thomas Vinterberg (Kursk) and Terence Davies (A Quiet Passion).

Local anchoring

Besides international co-productions, Screen Flanders has also invested heavily in productions with very high local potential, such as the feature films of the FC De Kampioenen franchise and the recent box-office hit Zillion, the animated children's series Sir Mouse and Ninja Express, and films with a big international appeal, such as the Netflix hit The Claus Family, Rebel by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, and When It Melts by Veerle Baetens, which will premiere at the Sundance Festival next year. TV series such as Chantal, 1985, The Cinderella Murder, the stunning documentary series In Our Nature and The Story Of Flanders also received support from the fund.

Boosting the audiovisual industry in Flanders

By supporting both international and local content, Screen Flanders also boosts the audiovisual industry in Flanders, allowing it to grow and develop by creating continuity and employment. This manifests itself in the region’s numerous state-of-the-art studios and post-production facilities, and the international titles on which these animation studios have worked, such as Phantom Boy, Where is Anne Frank or, more recently, Titina, The Siren and Quentin Blake's Box of Treasures.

Screen Flanders has offered additional opportunities and oxygen to the audiovisual sector in Flanders over the past 10 years. Flemish films and TV series, which invest a significant part of their production budget in the Flanders Region, had access to additional funding. In addition, this economic fund has increased the attractiveness of the Flemish audiovisual region for international co-productions. Due to the significant leverage effect, this is a very welcome, efficient and targeted injection in local employment and investment for our sector, and we remain determined, together with VLAIO, to continue enabling this in the future.

Koen Van Bockstal, Chief Executive (VAF)