A detailed history about Malta's Film Commission (MFC) and financial incentives
Updated July 2026
The Maltese islands have been a popular destination for foreign film shoots as far back as 1925, with Sons of the Sea, and then in 1930 with the British film Tell England (also known as The Battle of Gallipoli). More notably, in 1952, the island featured for the first time as itself in the war film A Malta Story.
It was only after 1964, still in the absence of an indigenous film industry, that an organised film servicing industry began to take shape in Malta, albeit in a very ad hoc manner. The servicing activity developed organically after the founding of the Malta Film Facilities (MFF), later renamed Mediterranean Film Studios, which consisted of a large water tank built with a natural horizon. This tank quickly made Malta a unique destination for water-based movies.
MFF was the brainchild of Benjamin "Jim" Hole; more information about this facility can be found here. He was helped by Maltese construction manager and eventual studio manager Paul Avellino.
Mediterranean Film Studios (MFS) — which, in fact, has no sound stages (i.e., "studios") to this very day — became state-owned and dominated the film servicing industry for over 30 years. Back then, producers filming in Malta would habitually set up their own bank accounts and operations on the island and, more often than not, run their accounts and a degree of their operations through this water facility, even if they were simply working on location and not at the facility itself.
Those running the facility were political appointees, being a government-owned enterprise, and it is no secret that it went through a rollercoaster ride of both good and bad years of management.
In 1994, the Maltese government began to take a hard look at the film industry in an effort to privatise the facility company. This was in line with its new national policy, a requirement for eventual EU membership. Until then, the facility had acted both as a water tank provider with set construction and as an occasional de facto service provider.
In the absence of a proper film commission office, the facility also adopted a similar commission-like role. In essence, MFS was the de facto film liaison office for the government, in conjunction with the Department of Information (DOI).
Later, in 1997, the island's first production manager, Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante, lobbied the government on the urgent need for a film commission, submitting an official proposal to the Prime Minister of the time. Initially, no positive feedback was received.
But when Gladiator's line producer, Branko Lustig, told the tourism minister, Karmenu Vella, that Malta needed a film commission, the government began to listen more carefully. At this time, in early 1998, Lustig had met with the management of Mediterranean Film Studios in preparation for his DreamWorks film. He did not feel the water tank facility would be his ideal service provider: he disliked its assumed role as an "authority" for obtaining location permits, and he disliked its monopoly on the industry, which had been compelling many productions to use it as a service company. He also did not require the water tanks.
So he proceeded to set up Gladiator independently of MFS — a very rare move at the time, preceded only by Merisairas, shot in 1994 by Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante, and other films shot before 1964.
Minister Vella then began looking into setting up a film commission, but his efforts stalled when the government faced an early election. When a new government was formed in 1998, Scerri-Ferrante sent his proposal to the new Prime Minister, who passed it on to his Parliamentary Secretary, Dr Austin Gatt.
Dr Gatt had previously been Secretary General of the Nationalist Party, which ran — and still runs — its own TV station. By then, Gatt had developed a relationship with Winston Azzopardi, a local businessman who owned a catering company and also ran a cafeteria at the Cirkewwa ferry terminal. Azzopardi had been helping the Nationalist Party acquire foreign programmes such as the hit series Friends by attending the MIPCOM market in Cannes each year. He had a flair for filmmaking and had attended a film course in New York.
Gatt therefore wrote a memo to the Prime Minister in 1999 recommending Azzopardi as the country's first film commissioner.
The Prime Minister accepted this proposal, and the new Parliamentary Secretary for the Economy, Dr George Hyzler (Jnr), whose portfolio included the film industry, took on responsibility for setting up the new commission. Hyzler and Azzopardi felt that the best place to announce Malta's first film commissioner was at the world-famous water tanks run by Mediterranean Film Studios (MFS), since in those days this company was the only publicly recognised film entity.
The Ministry, through Hyzler's communications officer Oliver Mallia, therefore asked MFS's newly appointed production manager, Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante, whether a press conference could be held on the studio premises "to promote the importance of the film industry." To MFS's surprise, the press conference held on its own premises announced the setting up of the film commission and the appointment of the commissioner.
Despite this surprise, MFS management was pleased that the government had finally taken a step towards acknowledging the importance of the film servicing industry. It spent the next six months assisting the fledgling commission with publicity material and helped with the commission's first participation in a Location Expo in Los Angeles. Although the intention was initially to share a booth, the relationship was not so harmonious, and both entities ended up manning their own booths on the day.
In the years that followed, Hyzler adopted a hands-on approach to the film service industry, often intervening personally when red tape became too much for productions. The driving force behind the commission in those days was arguably Luisa Bonello — the commission's coordinator, hand-picked by Azzopardi — together with Oliver Mallia, who had until then been Hyzler's communications officer.
Three years later, in 2002, in order to facilitate the financing structure for Warner Brothers' next film, the country's first film commissioner, Azzopardi, offered to be a "co-producer" of Troy so the producers could benefit from the Sale & Leaseback incentive offered in the UK, which required the film to be made under the European Convention on Co-Productions if filming was to take place in Malta.
Once this intention was confirmed, Parliamentary Secretary Hyzler felt it was unethical for Malta's film commissioner to co-produce a film and receive a generous salary on top of his public role. Hyzler therefore had the final word on the matter and asked for the commissioner's resignation.
Despite becoming a box-office failure, Troy had a significant impact on the local economy. (After the filming, Azzopardi went on to become a fully fledged production service provider and, fifteen years later, directed a short film and a feature film — both well-received and respected works, starring his son, actor Joe Azzopardi.)
The void left by Azzopardi as film commissioner was filled by Oliver Mallia, who had already spent three years actively involved in the commission's coordination and who, by then, had clearly developed a passion for the industry.
After nearly five years of hard work by the Malta Film Commission to introduce solid and attractive financial incentives, no legislation had been passed since its inception in 1999 — this despite strong lobbying from the two main private stakeholders of the time, Mediterranean Film Studios and The Producer's Creative Partnership.
Many blame this delay on Finance Minister John Dalli, who would not even agree to complimentary police assistance, though he promised to consider it in 2004 after meeting Mark Huffam and Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante on behalf of a Universal film. It is worth noting, however, that Minister Dalli is credited with previously granting an ad hoc incentive to Warner Brothers for Troy, based on 10% of employees' wages; Dalli himself flew to Los Angeles with his wife to meet the studio bosses.
Sadly, when the time came for the government to pay out, there was a substantial delay, despite Warner Brothers' lawyers arriving in Malta to try to meet with the minister, who was then unavailable due to house visits (it was election time). It was only after the intervention of the new Prime Minister, Lawrence Gonzi, that Warner Brothers received their dues.
(It is worth noting that, while this unfortunate episode in Malta's history cannot be rewritten, today's financial incentives are now enshrined in Maltese legislation and approved by the EU. The process has been fairly smooth, with no extraordinary delays or failings, since incentives were officially introduced in 2005.)
By 2004, the new Prime Minister, Dr Lawrence Gonzi, had assumed responsibility for the finance ministry, and there was hope that film incentives might finally be introduced in the country's new budget. By then, Malta's film servicing industry was already beginning to lose ground to competitors abroad.
The situation was so desperate that PCP's Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante wrote a letter to a local newspaper shortly before the new budget was announced in parliament, appealing to the Prime Minister to finally introduce incentives. He wrote that "considering the current international film climate, Malta's film servicing industry stands to become even more unpredictable and volatile if serious incentives are not introduced this time around." The film commission was also appealing to the Prime Minister through internal channels, providing a report on the industry's multiplier effect.
When the new budget was announced in early 2005, it was, unfortunately, a botched attempt. Even reputable auditing firms described it as "very confusing." Their best interpretation resulted in ineffective and miserly incentives, prompting Scerri-Ferrante to write directly to Prime Minister Gonzi.
The letter explained that the new incentives would have no serious impact on the industry, and that the country would be better off channelling its incentive-allocated funds towards a small national film fund rather than giving "peanuts" to foreign producers who would not be swayed to Malta by such a small rebate. In line with the film commission's recommendations, Scerri-Ferrante proposed a minimum rebate of 20%, with an added incentive for films depicting Malta as Malta.
Fortunately, the government listened this time and heeded the advice of its own film commission. Five months later, in spring 2005, the new minister responsible for the film industry, Dr Austin Gatt, appeared on a radio talk show hosted by Joe Grima, who invited Scerri-Ferrante to comment live on the state of the industry. On air, Minister Gatt assured Scerri-Ferrante that the new incentives would be implemented "almost word for word as per your letter to the Prime Minister."
Although this sounded too good to be true, Minister Gatt kept his word and became the first minister to introduce solid incentives for the film industry. Before the end of 2005, with the hard work of the Malta Film Commission, he introduced an official cash rebate of up to 22% of local expenditure. Finally, after years of lobbying, Malta could compete properly on the world stage.
The Malta Film Commission had studied incentives abroad and structured Malta's scheme in a fairly seamless and professional manner. Notably, it was — and still is — a cash rebate rather than a tax credit.
The only real "fault" in its set-up was that its administration was placed under the Malta Film Commission rather than a separate entity, giving one individual (the commissioner) too much power — which in turn increased the risk of abuse wherever grey areas existed in the regulations.
While Minister Gatt was credited with introducing the island's first film financial incentives, reinforcing his reputation as one of the few politicians who actually got things done, his ministry was also, unfortunately, responsible for the destruction of the film studio's valuable production offices and workshop building, which was owned by the government and leased to the studio.
Due to several rent arrears, Dr Gatt allowed the eviction of the building and endorsed its demolition to make way for his pet project: the development of "Smart City" with Middle Eastern investors. To this day, the Smart City project has fallen well short of its goal of becoming an IT hub generating hundreds of new jobs; it remains essentially a real estate project, and the land where the production building once stood remains undeveloped.
The minister was also responsible for a surprise court case brought against the studio, forcing its eventual eviction over other land lease arrears. The pending outcome of that court case, which spanned nearly a decade, led to the freezing of all investment in the studio by its owner and his potential investing partners.
Commissioner Oliver Mallia was widely known for his keen interest in bringing films to Malta and for getting deeply involved in solving problems encountered by producers. Sadly, in 2007, Mallia resigned abruptly from his public role to steer a large Spanish production, Agora. He had set up a new service company, Cinebiss, in partnership with a prominent businessman Keith Schembri.. Minister Gatt felt that any delay to his resignation would risk a continued conflict of interest, although such cloudly movements from public to private enterprises are fairly common in Malta. (Oliver went on to liquidate Cinebiss and form intead Pellikola, becoming one of the most successful production companies in Malta, having backed Luzzu and Zejtune by first-time director Alex Camilleri)
With a budget of €50 million, Agora was to become Spain's most expensive production at the time, with an international cast and intended for worldwide distribution. Although the film was not a commercial success internationally, it created almost a full year of work for local crew members, especially construction workers.
As it happened, 2007 marked the beginning of a huge wave of films being attracted to Malta, thanks in part to the new financial incentives introduced barely two years earlier. Malta was finally finding its place on the world film map.
The void left by Mallia's hard work and abrupt departure was filled by Luisa Bonello, who had served as the commission's coordinator since its inception and who, together with Mallia, had very much been the backbone of the commission. She worked hard and was instrumental in bringing the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones to Malta — a very high-profile series.
The film commission ran surprisingly efficiently despite having only two full-time employees, including the commissioner. They managed all marketing for the film servicing industry, including attendance at several foreign markets and events. The commission also administered the financial incentives back then, as it still does today.
In February 2011, while the film commission was under the responsibility of Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, Bonello resigned as commissioner of her own free will, publicly stating that she simply "wished to move on." This jolted somewhat the film servicing industry, as her tenure had produced several positive results.
Her position was eventually filled by then-commission board member Peter Busuttil, known for organising various entertainment events and for his flair for theatre. He was also a long-time friend and person of trust of the minister.
Following Busuttil's appointment, leading film service providers set up an informal association to assist the government with policymaking, but their time and energy were quickly absorbed by reporting numerous incidents concerning Busuttil's conduct as film commissioner. Despite various testimonials and high-level meetings — including with Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech — and despite promises to "fix" the issues, no changes were made.
In fact, notwithstanding written testimonials, including one from a respected British film tutor who had dealt with the commissioner following a workshop organised by the commission itself, finance minister Tonio Fenech took no action. In March 2012, he wrote to Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante, who was then representing the association, stating that unless there was "proof of financial irregularity," he saw no reason to replace the commissioner over other alleged failures in his core duties.
The only positive change the government made at the time was hiring another person at the commission, Susan Ronald, known for her organisational skills.
During Busuttil's tenure, the commission received substantial EU funding for training purposes, but these funds were directed mostly towards creative workshops, such as those for scriptwriters. Little or no attention was given to training in non-creative roles that might have nudged growth in the film servicing industry.
As a result, Malta was not preparing its workforce for the increase in foreign film shoots. This proved to be a crucial mistake, since the cash rebate alone was not enough from 2005 onward — the government needed a multi-pronged approach to nurture and develop the industry.
The result today is that Malta can service only one large production at any one time, or otherwise two small-to-medium productions. Some heads of department, specialist technicians, and production personnel still need to be brought in from abroad when more than two productions are running concurrently, and a third production shooting in Malta will typically need a very high contingent of foreign crew. In fairness, Malta has a population of only 500,000.
In 2013, the majority of Maltese voters were clearly tired of a government that had been in power for almost 16 years, amid claims of arrogance and over-confidence. Most film service providers were up in arms over the conduct of the film commission and the government's indifference to their problems.
The electorate voted in a new government, and six months later, Engelbert Grech was appointed the new film commissioner. By then, Grech had established himself in the local audiovisual scene as a respected cameraman, editor, and producer, and was known for a war documentary he had produced single-handedly and successfully sold overseas.
During Grech's years as film commissioner — during which he successfully righted the wrongs of the previous commission — his office became the "caretaker" of the water tanks, until then run by the private company Mediterranean Film Studios (MFS). This followed a court case in August 2014 that ordered the government's land lease to be terminated over ground rent arrears.
A public tender issued in 2015 to privatise the water tanks was unsuccessful, even though Pinewood Studios was among the bidders; despite this strong interest, the government decided to retain ownership of the studios, citing national interest and a lack of agreement with the final bidders.
This failed tender process left the film commission with the unorthodox and permanent role of studio manager, with the government as 100% shareholder. This effectively gave the commission the added responsibilities of a service provider, on top of its existing duties of promoting the country and facilitating red tape for visiting productions. The commission also administers the Malta Film Fund, which aims to nurture the small but growing indigenous film industry.
In 2018, Engelbert Grech was replaced by Johann Grech (no relation). The new commissioner arrived with a strong marketing and public relations background, having previously worked as a trainee for former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's enterprise before becoming the Maltese government's head of marketing.
Grech has so far succeeded in securing significant government investment for an upgrade of the water facility, as well as an increased budget for the film commission. He was also successful in raising the rebate from 30% to 40% and removed certain restrictions in the regulations in order to boost the rebate for Ridley Scott's Napoleon and subsequent Gladiator II. Together with a local economist he has managed to establish that for every Euro Malta gives to producers, local and foreign, the economy receives four Euros in return. This formula has enabled Malta to become very popular with film-makers seeking financing.
The new commission under Johann Grech has adopted an aggressive "can-do" attitude, with a new motto: "If you can imagine it, we can make it happen." He is credited for the establishment of a film festival called Mediterrane Film Festival.