The first feature film by Director/Actor Anthony Lucero, The Clown is currently being shot in Tbilisi, Georgia. Production began on August 8th and will run until March 6th 2017, spending a total of close to GEL2 million in the country and taking advantage of its newly established cash rebate.

Lily Collins (Love, Rosie, Rules Don’t Apply) is the latest addition to the cast alongside Pål Sverre Hagen, Holliday Grainger and János Derzsi amongst others.

Lucero’s career spans a number of roles throughout the industry, with credits as an Actor, Writer, Director and Philanthropist. His recent work includes writing a screenplay of A Confederate General from Big Sur for Benicio Del Toro.

Georgia’s 25% cash rebate was announced back in early 2016 and is provided if a minimum of USD250,000 is spent locally. The incentive has already attracted five productions, of which a total of three have been completed. The accumulated spending of all of these productions has amounted to GEL8 million.

Among these productions are Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi’s Bollywood film Gautamiputra Satakarni, which has shot on location in the Khazbegi region.

Enterprise Georgia recently hosted a familiarisation tour to introduce Indian Producers to the various locations in the country and promote the local film industry. Future plans include running a fam tour exclusively for American Producers.

Georgia’s new incentive is only one of a number of efforts made by countries surrounding the Black Sea to bolster their respective industries. Romania announced a 30% tax relief at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and while the incentive has yet to be confirmed, Ukraine is currently in the process of analysing a 25% cash rebate proposal.