Armed with a new rebate and expanding infrastructure, Austria’s screen sector is throwing down the gauntlet to compete in the international co-pro market—and kids producers are paying attention.

In January, the country launched a new 35% cash rebate for Austrian films and TV series, including animation, VR, sound, music and VFX. The FISA Plus incentive has a base 30% subsidy (not capped) with an additional 5% bonus if the production follows sustainable filming protocols. Additionally, eligible projects can access the Austrian Film Institute’s (a.k.a ÖFI) 25% incentive for feature films (which includes co-productions), laddering up for a total of up to 60% back on certain projects.

The country’s capital, Vienna, is also getting a new studio complex, HQ7. Currently under construction and set to open in Q1 2024, it will include two soundproof stages plus office and workshop space.

Both are major moves aimed at making Austria a true player in the global competition for screen-industry investment. “We’re going from zero to 100,” says Arie Bohrer, film commissioner for the Austrian Business Agency. “We can now compete with European countries that have long had incentives.”

Austrian expat Shabnam Rezaei, co-founder and president of Vancouver-based Big Bad Boo Studios, was ahead of the curve, opening a new Big Bad Boo office in Vienna in August and crafting a slate of new projects that she plans to hire local talent to develop and write.

The studio has four new series in development, ranging from a new preschool show to a YA series, and Rezaei hinted that she’s aiming to explore Austria’s deep musical and cultural legacy of famous operas and composers, which she considers a largely untapped opportunity in children’s entertainment. The studio will also animate Big Bad Boo’s shows and films that are in production, including feature film The Last Whale Singer and Galapagos X. 

The move to Austria was also motivated by the country’s location in central Europe, with close proximity to the continent’s producers and broadcasters. Rezaei feels Big Bad Boo can contribute a modern approach to Austria’s forward-thinking ambitions, from the studio’s expertise in diversity initiatives to its sustainability focus.

“Vienna can be the center to connect the East and West,” says Rezaei. “The government wants to attract more film and TV productions and we can bring our experience and [history of] BIPOC representation to Europe’s big market.”

There also isn’t a glut of animation studios in the country and very little kids content being exported, she adds. It’s both a challenge and an opportunity, requiring the studio to build relationships with local producers and vendors, government orgs and Austria’s public broadcaster, ORF, which currently doesn’t commission much kids content, says Rezaei.

For Austrian producer arx anima (The Elfkins – Baking A Difference, Talking Tom and Friends) the rebate marks a new chapter in the country’s TV history.

“We believe that the new cash rebate…is a game changer for the Austrian film industry,” says Dunja Bernatzky, CEO and co-founder of the Vienna-based studio. “Austria is now on the international map of incentives.”

Bernatzky was at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux last week, pitching the feature Monstrous Mia, a co-production between Austria, Spain and Germany. They’re closing financing on that project now, which is about a young girl who befriends monsters and learns that friendship can get you through any challenge.

The new rebate structure makes more projects like Monstrous Mia possible, she adds, explaining that Austria has talent and a strong history in cinema, so the incentive is positioning the industry for growth. She’s additionally proud of the “green” bonus, which she says sets a tone for the rest of the world.

“This is the first incentive worldwide that provides direct financial incentives for environmentally-friendly production,” says Bernatzky. “Therefore, it has a lighthouse effect on the whole industry to become greener and produce in a more sustainable way. Which is very important for us.”

Image via Shabnam Rezaei