In the world of independent film financing, it’s all about location, location, location. Hayden Christensen’s new thriller, “The Genesis Code,” is scheduled to begin filming in the fall in Spain, in large part because the country’s subsidies and tax credits translated into about 30 percent of the movie’s budget.

“Location is a huge factor,” says Myriad Films CEO Kirk D’Amico, who put together the deal for “The Genesis Code.” “Most countries see film as a clean, green industry. You come in, you make the movie, your film crew may have a drink after work but they’re not going to mess up your environment, and they spend money. That’s one reason these incentives have been put in place. Countries want to attract the kind of spending that comes with a film production.”

Location-based incentives, yoked with private-equity investors, have become increasingly important in the past couple of years. Bank investments have “constricted” from an average 40 percent per project to 10 or 15 percent, D’Amico says. “We shouldn’t call ourselves Myriad,” he jokes. “We should call ourselves the Cobbler Co. because we make these movies by cobbling together all these very disparate elements to put together a financing package.”
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