FINAS was established by the Malaysian Government on July 26, 1980 to oversee and regulate the development of the Malaysian Film Industry. It provides funding and training support for the industry, as well as administer the Compulsory Screening rule, and the licensing requirements for film activities in the country. Its mission is to guide the local industry to produce films for exports and to facilitate international productions coming to Malaysia to shoot on location. FINAS also has custodianship over the country’s Audio/Visual archives. FINAS reports to the Ministry of Communications & Multimedia who oversees the policies related to the Film Industry, and works closely with the Office of Advisor Creative Industries at the Ministry in the implementation of the various incentives and guidelines affecting the development of the Film Industry in Malaysia.
The key incentive for international productions is the Film-in-Malaysia Incentive (FIMI) that provides a 30% cash rebate on qualifying Malaysia spent to any international production company undertaking their production in Malaysia, whether on location or at any of the Sound Stages in the country or doing post production work. In addition to this, the Pinewood Studios in Johor Bahru (south of Peninsular Malaysia) also co-administer the processing of applications of producers who would like to specifically utilize the Pinewood Studios for their productions.
To qualify for FIMI, the minimum spend for an international production company doing a feature film must be RM5 million (Ringgit Malaysia Five Million) including for post-production if applicable, and from this, the Qualifying Malaysia Production Expenditure (QMPE) spend will be determined and approved. Out of the approved QMPE, and after an audit, the 30% rebate will be issued.
For Television series, the minimum spend is RM385,000 (Ringgit Malaysia 385 thousand) per hour. Applications for FIMI must be submitted to FINAS at least 3 months before the production commencement date
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