Jordan Boosts Film Rebate to 45%, Partners With
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- Jordan's Royal Film Commission oversees a tiered cash-rebate program returning up to 45% of local spend to filmmakers, plus automatic exemptions from the country's 16% VAT and 10% withholding tax, totaling up to 56% in eligible savings.
- The rebate scheme, which halved its minimum-spend threshold to $250,000, is capped at $5.25 million per project, with higher caps considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Olivewood Film Studios in Amman—Jordan's first purpose-built studio complex, established in 2023—entered a partnership with U.S. studio operator Shadowbox to manage day-to-day operations and scale up major international productions.
- RFC Chairman Prince Ali bin Al Hussein called Jordan's film industry 'crucial' to the country's cultural strategy and credited King Abdullah II with personally championing the sector.
- Olivewood General Manager Jumana Sharbin said the studio is prioritizing Asia and India as growth markets, with plans to court Chinese companies at the Shanghai International Film Festival later this year.
- Olivewood has hosted MBC's 'The Voice' and 'The Voice Kids' on its two soundstages, and is booked for an international game show at the end of July.
Why it matters: Foreign productions weighing Middle Eastern hubs just got a materially cheaper option in Jordan: the 56% combined incentive nearly matches the qualifying spend back to the producer, while Shadowbox's operational backbone from Atlanta and the U.K. lowers the risk of scaling studio work outside Western hubs. The minimum-spend drop to $250,000 also unlocks mid-budget international projects that previously couldn't justify the trip.
