TRIP is France's incentive for productions that don't qualify as French. It suits a US or UK production shooting on location in Paris or Marseille, or sending animation or VFX work to a French studio. French and official co-productions use separate CNC support, which is covered at the end of this page.
What TRIP covers and what it pays
| Item | TRIP rule |
|---|---|
| Base rebate | 30% of qualifying expenditure in France |
| VFX bonus | 40% when French VFX spend exceeds €2 million |
| Cap | €30 million per project (about €100 million of eligible spend) |
| Minimum spend | €250,000 in France, or 50% of the total budget |
| Shooting days | At least 5 in France for live action |
| Eligible formats | Scripted fiction, live action or animation: features, TV, web, VR, shorts |
| Cultural test | A separate test for live action, animation, and VFX |
Eligible expenses are counted before tax and include salaries, technical services, transportation, catering, and depreciation. There's no annual cap on the program listed by Film France, so projects aren't competing for a fixed pot.
The math at three sizes
A €1,000,000 live action shoot, all of it qualifying French spend, with seven days of photography in Paris:
- Minimum spend: €1,000,000 is over €250,000
- Shooting days: 7 is over 5
- Rebate: €1,000,000 x 0.30 = €300,000
A €5,000,000 French spend that includes €2,500,000 of VFX at a Paris facility:
- VFX spend: €2,500,000 is over the €2,000,000 bonus line
- Rebate: €5,000,000 x 0.40 = €2,000,000
A big series spending €110,000,000 in France without the VFX bonus would work out to €33,000,000 at 30%, but the cap cuts it to €30,000,000. Any project likely to spend more than €100 million in France should model the cap before promising a number to the studio.
The VFX bonus line sits at €2 million, and it's easy to miss by a little. If French VFX is forecast at €1.9 million, moving a sequence or two of cleanup from another vendor to the French house can add ten points on the entire French spend. Have the VFX supervisor and the production accountant look at the split together.
Getting through the process
- Hire a French production services company. It holds the claim and books the French spend.
- Score the project against the cultural test for its genre. The tests reward elements related to French culture, heritage, and territory, so French settings, locations, and subject matter all count toward a pass. The cultural test glossary entry and our guide to qualifying for international incentives explain how these points systems usually work.
- Plan at least five shooting days in France for live action, and keep that count in the shooting schedule even if weather or cast availability shifts days around.
- Track French qualifying expenses by fiscal year. The rebate is claimed at the end of each fiscal year.
Film France, a department of the CNC, is the one-stop shop for foreign productions preparing to film in France, and the place to ask when a cultural test question doesn't have an obvious answer.
Things that go wrong
Pre-tax counting catches budgets built on VAT-inclusive quotes. Rebuild the French section of the budget on pre-tax figures before you estimate the rebate.
The five-day minimum is easy to lose when the schedule compresses. If France is a two-day stop on a European tour, the project won't qualify however much it spends.
Unscripted shows and documentaries are outside TRIP. A factual series about French cuisine needs another route.
Co-productions and the French-qualified route
France has co-production agreements with 61 countries, plus the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production. A film that qualifies as French through the CNC's point scales can access the domestic system: automatic support linked to box office and TV sales, SOFICA equity funds, and broadcaster investment obligations. That route runs through a French co-producer and a co-production treaty, and it means a different finance plan from a TRIP service deal.
France compared with its neighbors
Spain pays 30% on the first €1 million of spend and 25% after that, with a €20 million cap and a €1 million minimum. Italy offers 40% on eligible costs through an Italian executive producer, limited to €20 million per company per year. Germany gives 30% grants but ran out of 2026 funds in August. Belgium and the United Kingdom are the usual alternatives for productions based in northern France. Compare them all on the incentives hub, or read about why productions shoot overseas.