France

France has long been a top global shooting destination, but due to recent struggles in wooing international productions drawn to more attractive incentives in Spain, Italy and Eastern Europe, the country has revamped its investment infrastructure and made a major change to its already competitive tax rebate.

France offers the Tax Rebate for International Productions (TRIP), a rebate of 30% of the eligible production spend with a cap of $35.1m (€30m). That figure rises to 40% when VFX expenses surpass $2.3m (€2m) on local soil.

In February 2026, the national government approved another incentive designed to woo larger scale projects. It is looking to modify the TRIP and allow the salaries of non-­European Union actors, falling under above-the-line costs to be counted as eligible spend for film and TV productions shooting in France. The move is pending official approval by the European Commission in Brussels.

“We are back on the map,” suggests Raphael Benoliel, producer and founder of production company Firstep. The move to include such above-the-line costs may just be considered icing on the cake to the trifecta of infrastructure, locations and competent crews, but Benoliel suggests: “If the tax credit hadn’t changed, we would not have the cake at all. We would have continued to miss out on major projects to our European neighbours.”

France continues to invest in production and innovation via its $409.5m (€350m) Great Image Factory scheme, part of the government’s $63.2bn (€54bn) France 2030 plan, focused on renovating and building studios and training facilities. By late 2026 and early 2027, large new sets will be completed at major facilities such as Studios de Bry, Provence Studios, France Télévisions’ V Studios in Vendargues near Montpellier, and TSF Studios’ backlot in Coulommiers.

“We have seen a noticeable market recovery in terms of volume and more ambitious projects coming to France than before Covid,” says Arnaud Roland, CNC deputy director for digital strategy and France 2030. Put simply, projects are staying longer and spending more money.

According to CNC figures, there were 69 TRIP-­approved projects and $590m (€504m) spent in the territory in 2025, compared to 54 projects and $528.8m (€452m) spend in 2024. Both surpassed the pre-Covid 2019 total of 52 projects and $351m (€300m) in spending.

Many major US films and series continue to flock to the territory for VFX work alone. Such spending hit $58.5m (€50m) in 2025 compared to $40m (€34m) in 2024, a notable fivefold jump over the past five years since the rebate increased, from 2019’s $11.1m (€9.5m) and 2020’s $12.9m (€11m).

Recent high-profile projects opting for VFX work in the country include Oscar winner Sinners (Light VFX), box-office hit Project Hail Mary (BUF), Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 2026 release The Bride! (One Of Us), plus season two of Prime Video’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, the fifth season of Net­flix’s Stranger Things and feature Predator: Badlands, all handled by The Yard.

France has set out to welcome bigger and bolder studio titles, but it is still the perfect fit for independent productions. Examples include Dan Johnson’s Berna­dette & The Lady Of Lourdes (working title), an English-­language historical drama with a French cast produced by US indie 10th Hour Productions alongside Peninsula Pictures, which shot on location in southwest France in spring 2026. AGC Studios’ thriller series Vanished, which aired earlier this year on MGM+ in the US and Prime Video in the UK, shot briefly in Paris in spring 2025, then on location in Marseille and at the LED stage at Provence Studios in Martigues.

Vanished shot Marseille for itself and replicated Jordan in nearby countryside. “It was great to bring the city of Marseille to life. We approached it as if it were on the call sheet,” says the series’ UK producer James Clayton of Slow Burn Entertainment.

“We had one hub for the entire show,” says line producer John Bernard of Peninsula Film. “Financially we had to get the entire show to fit into one challenging box, and we did.” Trimaran and MPC handled VFX work for the production, which was able to use TRIP’s 40% incentive.

Paris hosted 6,570 days of filming in 2025, a significant increase of nearly 15% compared to 2024 when the city was closed to filming for much of the year due to the Olympics. Paris hosted nearly almost as many feature films in 2025 (92) as in 2023 (98), and 66 series compared to 64 in 2023.

Recent US shows to visit the capital include the third season of Jenny Han’s Prime Video hit The Summer I Turned Pretty, Ryan Murphy and Matthew Hodgson’s FX-Hulu body horror The Beauty, CBS spinoff FBI: International, and Dan Fogelman’s upcoming Hulu NFL drama The Land. Streamer features shot in Paris include Apple TV’s Mark Wahlberg-­starrer The Family Plan 2 and Netflix romantic comedies The Wrong Paris and Je M’Appelle Agneta.

Hallmark Media filmed on location in the city in March for six-episode romantic comedy Paris Is Always A Good Idea, co-produced by Dynamic Television and Clapperboard Studios. Netflix’s Wednesday also shot some of its third season in Paris in April. Emily In Paris will return for its sixth season and HBO Max hit The White Lotus sets its fourth season in the south of France during Cannes Film Festival.

Netflix series Survival Of The Thickest shot scenes for its third and final season on location in Paris in early 2026, opting to blend its own creative department heads with local crews. “The tax credit is what makes it possible. It provides enough of a boost that we were able to pull off these shoots even on a small budget,” says producer Willy Friedman. “Xavier Roy and his team at Froggie Production found the most wonderful crew and the experience was phenomenal.”

Apple TV’s The Last Thing He Told Me — with local production also by Froggie — shot three episodes of its second season on location in Paris and Marseille in spring 2025. “We were limited in time, but wanted a large scope and the local team guided us, with respect to our limitations, for everything from permits to where the trucks would park and even drone work above the River Seine,” explains producer Merri Howard.

France offers more than 20,000 shooting locations, heritage sites and qualified crews in addition to studio facilities, digital labs and VFX houses. Productions benefitting from the TRIP work directly with Film France-CNC, and local film production service companies that handle location scouting, hiring crews, work permits, locking in studio facilities and more.

Major studios include Les Studios de Paris and Studios de Bry near Paris, plus Provence Studios in Martigues.

France is the largest country in the European Union by surface area and boasts great air, train and motorway travel. London and Brussels are quick train rides away.

Shooting in France also extends to overseas territories including Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion Island and New Caledonia.

Contact

Daphné Lora, head, Film France-CNC

daphne.lora@cnc.fr