Film and TV incentive in Denmark
Denmark runs the Danish Production Incentive Scheme: a cash rebate worth 25%. A payment on approved local spend, usually claimed after delivery or in stages. What matters is the queue: most cash rebates run from an annual budget.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Danish Production Incentive Scheme
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- 25%
- Minimum local spend
- DKK 3m Danish spend for a feature film or fiction series (DKK 1m for documentary); minimum total budget DKK 25m for a feature film, DKK 150k per minute and DKK 15m per season for a fiction series, DKK 4m for documentary
- Cap per project
- No cap
- Funding
- Budget-limited DKK 100m a year for live action and DKK 25m for animation, in two rounds; DKK 58m was open in the September 2026 round. Applications are ranked on Danish spend, total budget and the production and cultural test, so a qualifying project can still miss out
- Paid
- 70% once the auditor-endorsed financing plan is in, 30% after the final report is approved
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- DKK
What this means for the cashflow
There is an annual pot and a queue. Applying early in the year matters, and a full pot can push a production to the next round. The production carries the gap until the money arrives, and that is a financing question rather than a budget line.
When it pays: 70% once the auditor-endorsed financing plan is in, 30% after the final report is approved.
The detail
New since 1 January 2026. At least 60% of the financing must be confirmed at application and at least 25% must come from foreign sources; the lead producer needs a prior credit with wide distribution. Deadline 24 September 2026, next round expected 8 April 2027. Regional funds such as Copenhagen Film Fund and FilmFyn still operate alongside as discretionary co-investors.
What you have to submit
Total budget and eligible expenditure (Excel), Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces. Mandatory template, with a matching financing plan template and the test workbook on the scheme page.
Building the budget first? Use the free film budget template or the Budget Builder, then map it onto whatever the fund asks for.
How it compares
Counted on the best rate a production can reach after tax, Denmark sits at number 26 of the 32 European schemes we track (25%). Work out the net value on your own spend, side by side with up to two other countries, in the incentive comparison.
Pays more
- Czech Republic 25% (35% animation and VFX)
- Norway Up to 25%
- Croatia 25% (up to 30% in less-developed regions)
Pays less
Other cash rebate schemes
- Netherlands Up to 35%
- Germany 30%
- Portugal 30% / 25% (large track); 30% to 40% (medium track)
- Malta 30% to 40%
- Hungary 30% (up to 37.5% with foreign costs)
- Czech Republic 25% (35% animation and VFX)
- Poland 30%
- Iceland 25% (35% for large productions)
Shooting there
We list 34 places to shoot in Denmark and 16 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen (Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces) and checked on 2026-09-05. Incentives change: confirm the current terms with the fund before you commit a budget to them.
All 32 incentives · Compare them on your own spend · Locations by country