Company Profile
The Apulia Film Commission Foundation, set up under regional legislation, was established in 2007with the aim of attracting audiovisual production companies to the area through the good value of its facilities, the professionalism of its skilled personnel and the lowering of costs for travel, cast, crew and location scouting in the region.
Apulia Film Commission (AFC) was born in 2007 and aims to attract audiovisual production companies by providing subsidies to lower the costs of preparation, production and post-production of the projects shot in Puglia.
It has four funds: Apulia National and International Film Fund, Apulia Regional Film Fund, Apulia Hospitality Fund, Apulia Development Fund, for a total endowment of € 3,5 million euros in 2014.
Until now AFC has financed 163 productions and produced 14 shorts and documentaries, which have been premiered and awarded at international festivals. 57 out of the financed productions are feature films and 20 are international.
Recently AFC has financed the TV serie, “Braccialetti Rossi”, adapted from the successful Catalan TV show “Polseras Vermelles”. “Braccialetti Rossi” has been the audience leader TV programme of the Italian national broadcasting company. Steven Spielberg & Marta Kauffman will bring the US remake of the TV serie, called “The Red Band Society” to American audience.
Two of the twelve episodes of “Rex 7”, produced by Dog’s Life for Beta Film and aired on the second channel of the Italian national broadcasting company, were also shot in Apulia last January thanks to Apulia Film Commission.
AFC provides a variety of free services to solve logistical problems. It has a headquarter in Bari – the Cineport Hub – and two local offices: the Cineport Hubs in Lecce and Foggia.
The Cineport Hub in Bari covers an area of 1,200 m² at the Fiera del Levante trade fair complex and boasts audiovisual production offices, casting rooms, make-up and hairdressing studios, a costume department, a props and scenery storage area and workshop and a 95-seater full HD Dolby Surround cinema.
The Lecce Cineport hub is set in 500 m² with parking facilities for production vehicles and areas for exhibitions.
The Foggia Cineport Hub is a 3,000 m² multi-purpose structure, with a fully-equipped 400 m² TV studio, a production booth, 4 editing rooms, 2 soundproof rooms, meeting rooms tailored for workshops and teaching activities, a dressing room, a reception room with check point, an 80-seater cine-forum area with widescreen facilities and a scenery and equipment deposit. It also has a courtyard which can be used as a parking facility for film production vehicles.
AFC also deals with training: its workshops are “Puglia Experience”, addressed to screenwriters from all over the world and “Closing the Gap: Investment for 360° Content” (in collaboration with Peacefulfish, the Western Norway Film Centre and Programma MEDIA), dedicated to European film producers.
AFC organizes the Bari International Film Festival and the Festival of Real Cinema in Specchia (Lecce) and leads D’Autore project, a Quality Cinema Network promoting quality film screening through the creation of a chain covering all six provinces of Apulia.
