Tokyo Vice producer Alex Boden and Netflix’s APAC Content & Studio Production Affairs chief Debra Richards offered some thoughts on how Japan’s new IP360 incentives scheme could be improved to offer better support to international productions during an MPA seminar at the ongoing Tokyo International Film Festival.
Introduced last year to replace the existing JLOX scheme, IP360 is part of an ambitious program by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to boost the local content industry, which includes increasing exports of Japanese content to $127BN (JPY20TR) by 2033, and attracting international productions to shoot in Japan.
While praising the government’s aims, speakers at the MPA event also observed that changing the minimum spend threshold to $5M (JPY800M) is making it difficult for many co-productions and other international projects to shoot here.
“I’m thrilled to note improvements that have already been made to the Japan incentive program, including increasing the funds available and supporting more projects, and switching to a two-year window for applications, which will avoid excluding many productions,” Boden said in an introductory presentation.
But he added that further improvements are needed to ensure the country doesn’t lose out on smaller indie shoots, and also on larger Japan-set international productions, such as Shogun and Pachinko, which both scouted in Japan but eventually decided to shoot elsewhere.
Boden’s suggestions included lowering the minimum spend threshold, which would open the scheme to a wider range of shoots: “The minimum spend level was increased to around $5M based on spend in Japan, but most Japanese films have much lower budgets, around $1.5M-$3M, so the new minimum expenditure cap excludes independent and lower-budget projects,” Boden explained.
He also suggested giving a wider range of producers experience of working with the incentive: “Currently, only production companies with high budget level experience are encouraged to apply, but the reality is that there are not yet enough producers with experience working with bigger budgets in Japan,” Boden said. “Let’s address how we ensure that more producers get big-budget experience instead of excluding them. Working on international projects is a skillset that takes time to develop.”
Boden also suggested establishing an automatic approval system for the incentive, which is currently decided on by a panel, and simplifying the approval process.
Speaking on a panel following Boden’s presentation, Debra Richards, Netflix Director, APAC Content & Studio Production Affairs, stressed the importance of consistency in incentives schemes, as rapidly changing funding thresholds and other requirements make it difficult for producers to plan.
“Certainty is very important,” said Richards. “You could have a lower incentive, that’s fine, so long as it’s certain and the criteria are clear. With the Japan incentive, you can sort of work out why some productions didn’t get it when you look at the productions that were successful, but it’s opaque, and it would be much better if it was clearer.”
Richards added that incentives schemes also need to value both local and international productions equally: “Don’t let them compete against each other in terms of your incentives, because they have the same value whether it’s visible or invisible. Our biggest production hubs – not only in this region, but Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Spain and the UK – have incentives that support both local and international under one umbrella.”
The four speakers on the panel – which also included Toho Tombo Pictures’ Georgina Pope and MPA APAC Vice President Production Policy Paul Muller – all outlined the virtuous circle of how international productions feed back into the local production sector and seed the next generation of crew.
Pope, a veteran Japan-based fixer who has worked on productions including Marty Supreme and The Smashing Machine, said: “After working on a couple of international jobs, I noticed how the local crew becomes more confident in their work and their ability to support international productions moving forward.
“I think the division of labor that’s so clear on international projects helps create that environment. But in all sorts of departments, for example, overseas crew in the wardrobe department use really specific software that’s really unknown and not used here at all, and it’s great to see Japanese crew get used to and familiar with that software. And that applies across many departments. So it definitely builds know-how and confidence.”
Muller talked about how a consistent incentives scheme, without too many sudden policy shifts, had benefitted the Australian, and more recently, Thai content industries. “You need to know what’s going to happen before you even develop projects that are relevant to a particular market,” Muller said.
“We do appreciate what METI has been trying to do in the last few years. There are certainly positive steps being made, such as going from single-year financing to two-year financing. But what I’m trying to show when I paint a picture of Australia is that there are still steps to be made to get to that same level of benefits. Thailand has also been quite consistent over a number of years, and we’ve seen a significant increase in the volume of both international and local stories.”
Tokyo Vice was the first in a wave of international productions that have filmed in Japan since the JLOX scheme – offering up to a 50% cash rebate on qualifying spend – was introduced in 2022. Since then, international productions shooting here have included Searchlight Pictures’ Rental Family, Apple TV’s Drops Of God and Neuromancer, and Sony Pictures Classics’ Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, many of which employed crew that worked on Tokyo Vice. However, all those productions filmed in Japan before changes to the incentives scheme were made.
Today’s event, entitled ‘Strengthening Japan’s Production Environment’, was organized by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) at the Tokyo International Film Festival, which opened last night and is running until November 4.