Mauritius: Preferred Shooting Destination
The mission of the Economic Development Board (EDB) is to facilitate investment on the island. Since 2013, thanks to the Film Rebate Scheme set up by the board, 103 film projects have been approved and 61 produced in Mauritius. For the years 2018-2019, a Film Promotion Fund of MUR500 million per year has been structured to promote our Film industry. This amount increases proportionally to the number of films shot in Mauritius. By 2020-2021, 33 film projects are in the forecast, among which 9 have been approved already.
Every year, the Cannes Film Festival is a platform where collaborations are made between international and Mauritian film production companies every year. Besides, world-famous actors from Hollywood and Bollywood also promote Mauritius as a film shooting destination.
Maya Lord, Roland Emmerich’s $60 million blockbuster, will be produced by Identical Pictures in 2019 in Mauritius. Projects like the latter benefit from up to 40% reimbursement by the EDB, which attracts leading production houses to the island. Andreas Habermeyer, Managing Director of Identical Pictures, states that the rebate funds self-finance when the island welcomes big budget films. This cycle exists as the fund amounts reimbursed to production companies are also spent in Mauritius most of the time by those same companies and the crew.
Identical Pictures has also produced Serenity in 2017, starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway amongst other celebrities. The film will be out in cinemas as from October 2018. The distribution of films shot in Mauritius also contribute to the self-financing strategy implemented by the EDB. Films also have a way of attracting fans (tourists), which adds up to the benefits of the Film Rebate Scheme for the Mauritian economy. Young filmmakers gain experience all the while, find employment and contribute to a growing film crew on the island.