Skopje, the capital city, is the administrative center of the Republic of Macedonia, and an important diplomatic center in the Balkans. It is a modern city with a rich history that dates back to ancient times. During the Roman period it was known by the name Skupi. The city is located in the Valley of the River Vardar and has 506,000 citizens. Skopje is a crossroad to the Balkan routes, located almost exactly midway between the capital cities of its neighboring countries: Tirana ( Albania) is 299km from Skopje; Sofia (Bulgaria) is 220km from Skopje; Athens ( Greece) is 691km from Skopje; Belgrade ( Serbia) is 425km from Skopje; Pristina ( Kosovo) is 85km from Skopje.

Skopje is home of the Macedonian Film Agency. In 2014, the Macedonian Parliament passed a new Film Industry Law, underlying its commitment to boosting the film industry in the country. In January 2014, the newly founded governing film body, the Macedonian Film Agency as legal successor of the Macedonian Film Fund, opened its doors. The overall responsibility of the Agency is to contribute to the growth of the Macedonian film industry, film tradition and film culture through continuous support in the areas of development, production, distribution, exhibition and promotion. It is funded by the grant-in-aid from the Government and through contributions such as broadcasters, cable operators, Internet providers, cinema exhibitors, distributors, entertainment games and games of chance. The Agency also promotes Macedonian films and co-productions at all major film festivals and markets and administers the Macedonian Film Production Incentive Programme, aimed to encourage and stimulate investments in film/television projects. The Agency operates under the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and receives most of its funds on the basis of annual policy plans. The Agency’s annual budget is approximately 6 million EUR. Continuing to give its full support to the development of film production and film culture in Macedonia and to attracting international film projects to the country, the government as a part of the new Film Industry Law ( Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia No. 82/2013 18/2014, 44/2014) has introduced the Film Production Incentive Programme. It is available to international and local filmmakers in the form of a cash rebate of 20% on qualifying Macedonian spend. The Incentive Programme is administered by the Commission for determining the right to refund of the Macedonian Film Agency. The Programme is administered on a first-come, first-served basis. The refunding right – cash rebate is calculated on the total qualifying expenditure including value added tax and is paid directly to the applicant’s Macedonian bank account. The minimum local spend per project is EUR 100.000. Qualified spend consists of the costs of goods and services purchased in Macedonia and wages paid to Macedonian tax residents (both cast and crew) for services carried out in Macedonia.