The incentives have been keeping film producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis busy.
An award-winning producer of Greek films such as Wasted Youth and Forever, Kontovrakis is among the growing wave of filmmakers from Greece and abroad who are shooting their next big scene in the country, with a Dutch movie shot in September on the tallest mountain in Crete, Psiloritis.
The story is about Dutch soldiers battling in an environment that looks like Syria, says Kontovrakis.
“The Dutch approached us as they were looking for somewhere in Europe to shoot the movie. They wanted to find a place that that looks like Syria and found it. They were encouraged to do this in Greece by the incentives,” says Kontovrakis.
“The fact that they can shoot the whole film in one country is a plus for them,” he adds.
Called Do Not Hesitate, the movie is a €2.1 million production that is being backed by Dutch investors, EKOME, and the Hellenic Film Commission.
Greece has also pledged to reduce notorious red tape and remove other bureaucratic hurdles that have plagued and discouraged many international production companies in the past.
There was a lot of noise last year about the BBC thriller The Little Drummer Girl, the award-winning British television mini-series based on John le Carré’s acclaimed novel.
Film production was initially turned away from the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion after objections from Greece’s archaeological authorities. The filmmakers were later allowed to shoot, albeit with more restricted filming times than initially requested in order to minimise disruption for tourists visiting the archaeological site.
This was an embarrassing incident for the Greek government that had just launched its fresh initiatives to draw in foreign films.
Although more work is needed, coordination efforts between state services and all levels of government have improved.
“In March we were able to shut down Syntagma Square, the largest and most central square in Athens, for two whole days for the purposes of shooting a foreign film, something that had never been done before,” says Kouanis.