A drought of foreign films in Malta this year has pushed dozens of crew out of the industry, as one production packed up for Morocco and another reportedly changed its mind about Malta and moved to the UK, Times of Malta has learnt.
Several Maltese film crew – from makeup artists to set builders and costume designers – have vented their frustration at not having booked a job in the film industry for months.
Seasoned industry sources said there was a dearth of productions worldwide that was inevitably having an impact on the local film service industry.
Some crew who worked on three or four different productions last year have not been called to work on a film or TV series for six months, despite the government and the Malta Film Commission running a marketing campaign urging people to join the industry for “a guarantee of a job in films”.
The film commissioner had predicted that 2024 would be “another record year” for foreign productions.
The film commission’s job website opportunityforall.mt is only listing one ongoing production at the moment, a British TV series. And it is “a relatively small production” by industry standards, industry sources told Times of Malta.
The website does list more productions for the rest of this year – Jurassic World, another two US productions, and one British and one German – indicating that the pace might pick up again in the coming months.
The website, which has a section listing available job vacancies on ongoing productions, has no listed vacancies at the moment.
‘Guarantee of jobs in films’
Speaking to Times of Malta, every crew member almost unfailingly – and without being prompted – said they had been attracted to the industry by nationwide campaigns that the Malta Film Commission has been running over the past couple of years.
One such campaign ran slogan Garanzija tal-jobs fil-films (A guarantee of jobs in film) until as recently as last month.
“Where is the guarantee of jobs in films?” one crew member said.
“We were promised back-to-back productions and that was true for me up until last year, but now I have been out of a job for six months and I have nothing lined up yet for the rest of the year.”
The word around Maltese crews late last year was that there were tens of productions lined up for this year. In November, film commissioner Johann Grech told MaltaCEOs.mt that 2024 was set to be “another record year” for the film industry.
Film Commissioner Johann Grech (left) meeting the crew on a film set last year. Photo: Facebook/Johann Grech‘Quality, not just quantity’
In a reply to questions, the film commission would not explain the drought and would not say what had changed since Grech made that prediction last year.
A spokesperson did say, however, that “employment and the value to the economy is also derived by the quality of a production, not just the total number”.
He would not say how many productions are lined up for the rest of the year due to confidentiality clauses in the contracts with production houses, and to avoid negatively affecting future investment in Malta.
Film industry insiders, however, told Times of Malta that apart from Jurassic World, which is set to shoot in Malta for a few weeks this summer, the other productions are small or medium-sized by industry standards. And they were not employing many local crew, often bringing their own over instead.
Meanwhile the film commission has almost invariably refused every request to disclose, explain or justify its often lavish, multi-million taxpayer spending on cash rebates, marketing stunts, campaigns, short films, award shows and film festivals.
It was only through a court order that came at the end of a two-year legal battle that the commission was forced to reveal that British comedian David Walliams was paid €120,000 in taxpayer money to host the Malta Film Awards back in January 2022.
Since then, Walliams has taken part in several other Maltese film commission events – from hosting award nights to reading books to children and starring in short films – and none of the costs were ever revealed.
Top industry sources say the commission’s overall spend has been “astronomical” over the years and reaches millions in taxpayer money.
The film commission refuses to disclose its spending, saying this is sensitive commercial data and its publication could have legal ramifications and harm foreign investment. Its argument is that the expenditure – no matter how big – is necessary and worthwhile because Malta is becoming a hub for the world’s best films.
Morocco instead of Malta
Meanwhile, Times of Malta has confirmed that a foreign production company that had planned on shooting most of its biblical-themed film in Malta went to Morocco instead.
This is reported to be a medium-sized production, which would typically employ between 120 and 150 Maltese crew in set design, construction, makeup, props, wardrobe and other roles.
The production was scheduled to work in Malta for several months this year and multiple sources said it relocated because its producers felt the physical and visual environment in Morocco better suited the film’s theme.
A few Maltese crew will keep their positions and move to Morocco with the film but the rest are out of a job for months if nothing else comes up.
One member of the Maltese crew who was meant to work on the production said: “I feel cheated because I was continually told that the film sector was thriving. I got calls every few days and messages reminding me that the Film Commission is working hard to strengthen the industry, and now I haven’t had a job in months.”
The PN’s fault?
On Wednesday in parliament, PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami asked Clayton Bartolo why the film had relocated.
Bartolo’s reply implied that it was the PN’s fault.
“Every person who is trying to turn the film industry into a political football is causing Maltese people to lose their job [in the industry],” he said.
“So, you’re causing people to lose their job and then you come here asking the minister why the film left. Ask yourselves why these films left. Who is going abroad harming our country?”
Comments on Facebook on the local film industry.Pierce Brosnan no more
Meanwhile, last week UK news website The Telegraph reported there had been a change of mind about a Pierce Brosnan boxing biopic planned to be shot in Malta – it has moved to Leeds to benefit from the British government’s new 40 per cent film tax credit.
The website said Malta was to be used to shoot interior scenes for the movie, starring the 70-year-old actor of James Bond fame.
Malta offers an attractive 40 per cent cash rebate of its own. This granted more than €47 million in taxpayer money to Gladiator alone last year. Although several industry insiders have long warned the model is unsustainable, Grech and Bartolo have defended it staunchly, saying Malta cannot afford to be less generous if it wants to remain competitive in the international market.
“Ironically, a stream of news reports previously published on the Times of Malta described the financial incentives as generous, and various individuals you quoted implied that they are unnecessary or lavish,” the commission spokesperson said.
“Therefore these reports are now being proved as incorrect or misleading since similar incentives have been introduced elsewhere.”
Under the rebate scheme, Malta has handed out €143 million to 54 films and television series since 2019.
Asked whether the commission and the government were considering bumping up the rebate even further now that other countries were offering a similar one, the spokesperson said the commission “is confident that the current financial incentives are competitive but will continuously monitor competing jurisdictions and the economics of the local offerings”.
New guidelines for local crew
But some industry insiders are now warning that Malta is losing its competitive edge in the industry, saying it is becoming increasingly expensive to shoot here, and that may be one of the reasons why there are fewer productions.
The rise in costs, they say, is partly due to new guidelines for crew issued by the film commission, which stipulate that as from this year, production companies can only benefit from the cash rebate if they honour a set of new conditions for Maltese crew.
Among the conditions, companies must not pay local crew less than minimum stipulated hourly and overtime rates, Maltese crew must not work longer hours than foreign crew, must be paid double for working on the seventh day of a week and for working on national public holidays, and must be given €20 daily as allowance for meals.
The guidelines were designed by Grech and his team to ensure better working conditions for Maltese crew.
“These principles were not only encouraged and eventually endorsed by leading studio executives but also fundamentally meant equal employment standards for both local and foreign workers employed by productions in Malta,” the commission said.
“There were numerous situations in the past where unequal standards were present for the exact same job and qualification. Challenges exist, notably with local employers hiring non-EU workers despite the availability of local labour. To address this, we are looking at implementing more rigorous labour market testing (LMT) requirements for employers in areas with a sufficient supply of local workers.
“We want to ensure Maltese, Gozitans and local residents are prioritised, especially since taxpayer-funded financial incentives are at play.”
A commenter on Facebook asks whether the guarantee of work in the film industry is true.‘Unequal conditions’
Yet, some crew members have complained of lack of adequate enforcement of the guidelines.
A few of them told Times of Malta they have had to work longer hours than their foreign colleagues.
“Our laws do not protect us at all. They aren’t even very clear. I have worked on productions where the foreign crew is treated as workers should be and we’re treated like slaves. This is what will continue to happen if we keep relying on the service industry,” one of them said.
A possible solution
One insider suggested that Malta needed a more balanced approach to the industry – one that included the service industry but did not make it the industry’s focus.
“Right now, Malta doesn’t have a film industry, it has a service industry,” they said.
“There should be more investment in local content. If we are the creators, we can create back-to-back productions as opposed to waiting around for someone to show up. Just look at how Luxemburg, Montenegro and Iceland invest their money.
“In Luxembourg, they create a film from beginning to end. From script writers to post-production, there are Luxembourg creatives involved, which has created an entire industry that manages to sustain itself.”
For a direct comparison in terms of funding, in 2023, 19 local productions were awarded over €1.54 million as part of the Creative Malta scheme, while in the same year, Film Fund Luxembourg granted €3 million to just one production.
‘Slowdown is normal’
Several film industry insiders noted that there is a general slowdown in the industry across the world, not just in Malta. It happened partially due to the actors’ strike last year and is possibly exacerbated in anticipation of a looming crew strike which might happen later this year.
But that is not the problem, they insist. The nature of the industry has always been this volatile and sometimes production rates slow down. Rather, the problem is that Maltese crew are fed the illusion that there would be a “guarantee” of jobs for everyone throughout the year.
“That’s not how the industry works, and as long as we remain so heavily dependent on servicing foreign productions, we will always be at the mercy of the highs and lows of the international industry and the appetites of foreign companies,” one filmmaker said.
“That is why we have been insisting for more investment in the local industry, because more jobs could have been created had there been more focus on local productions.”
Even worse, development of local productions has almost come to a complete halt as no funds for local productions have yet been awarded this year, another observed.