APPROVED BY
The Republic of Lithuania Minister of Culture
Order No. ĮV-865 of December 17, 2013
PROCEDURE OF EVALUATION OF PRODUCTION CRITERIA AND CULTURAL
CONTENT, INCLUDING FILM SCRIPT, OF A FILM PRODUCED IN THE REPUBLIC
OF LITHUANIA
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. This procedure of evaluation of production criteria and cultural content, including film
script, of a film produced in the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter – the Procedure) sets forth the
criteria of evaluation of production and cultural content of a film produced by a Lithuanian film
producer, as well as the procedure for issuing and validity of a Film Qualification Certificate.
2. Definitions:
2.1. Film crew list shall mean creative and technical staff hired by a Lithuanian film producer
for the purpose of creating and producing a film.
2.2. Film financing plan shall mean a document specifying all film financing sources, their
percentages in the total production budget and status (received, applied for, planning to apply).
2.3. Film Qualification Certificate shall mean a document issued to a Lithuanian film
producer by the Lithuanian Film Centre under the Ministry of Culture in the form established by the
Director of the Lithuanian Film Centre under the Ministry of Culture, which certifies that a film
satisfies production and cultural content criteria.
2.4. Film production schedule shall mean an outline of the process of production of a film or
its part in Lithuania, broken down according to scenes, indicating location, time and duration. In the
case of an animation project, the process of production of an animation project shall be outlined in a
production timeline, indicating how much time will be devoted for each phase of animation
production of an element of animation project related to shooting, developing and/or creating visual
or graphic design of characters, set and props, compositional layout of a frame, storyboards,
animatic, visual and special effects, and indicating the location where each of the aforementioned
works shall be carried out.
2.5. Official translation shall mean a translation of a document into the Lithuanian language
confirmed by the signature of a person engaged in translation work.
2.6. Certified copy shall mean a copy of a document the authenticity of which is confirmed
by the words “True Copy” on the front page, the signature of the head of legal entity and (or) stamp.
2.7. Commissioned film shall mean a film the production services whereof or a part whereof
are provided by a Lithuanian film producer who does not become the owner of copyright and
related rights of a film.
3. Other definitions used in the Procedure shall be interpreted as defined in the Law of the
Republic of Lithuania on Corporate Income Tax (Official Gazette, 2001, No. 110-3992; 2013, No.
75-3757), Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Film (Official Gazette, 2002, No. 31-1107; 2012,
No. 6-192), Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Copyright and Related Rights (Official Gazette,
1999, No. 50-1598; 2003, No. 28-1125).
II. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
4. A Lithuanian film producer shall submit to the Lithuanian Film Centre under the Ministry
of Culture (hereinafter – Lithuanian Film Centre) an application in the form established by the
Director of the Lithuanian Film Centre with a view to receiving a Film Qualification Certificate
(hereinafter – the Application).
5. Applications from a Lithuanian film producer who has failed to duly account for all
projects previously financed by the State or who is subject to restrictions set forth in Parts 7 to 12 of
Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Film shall not be accepted.
6. Applications may be submitted in case of production of:
6.1. a national film;
6.2. a co-produced film;
6.3. a commissioned film.
7. The following documents shall be submitted together with an Application:
7.1. the script, and in the case of an animation project – a visualisation of the animation script
(5-page illustrations, reflecting film style, character model sheets (may include key poses,
turnarounds, facial expressions, moth charts etc.), layout including key backgrounds and characters,
or other graphic form);
7.2. a film production schedule;
7.3. a film financing plan;
7.4. an estimated production budget of a film or its part;
7.5. in the case of a co-produced film – a certified copy of a co-production agreement or a
deal memo;
7.6. in the case of a commissioned film – an agreement between a Lithuanian film producer
and the client concerning the production of a film or its part.
8. Requirements for an Application:
8.1. it shall be completed in Lithuanian, using a computer;
8.2. it shall be submitted together with annexes specified in this Procedure;
8.3. documents in a foreign language shall be submitted together with an official translation;
8.4. a list of application documents shall be submitted;
8.5. all pages shall be numbered;
8.6. it shall be bound as a single document together with the documents attached in the order
indicated in the Procedure.
9. Duly completed Applications together with the compulsory documents outlined in Point 7
of the Procedure (hereinafter – the application documents) shall be submitted to the Lithuanian Film
Centre directly (in person or via a representative) or sent by post.
10. The submission date of an application to the Lithuanian Film Centre shall be:
10.1. the registration date of receipt of an Application, in cases when an Application is
directly delivered to the Lithuanian Film Centre;
10.2. the posting date indicated in the postal stamp, in cases when an Application is sent by
post.
11. A single original of an Application and Application documents, as well as an electronic
version of the Application and Application documents recorded on an electronic medium (CD,
DVD, USB) as a single document in PDF format, shall be submitted.
III. APPLICATION EVALUATION PROCEDURE
12. Evaluation of Applications shall consist of three stages:
12.1. examination of the application and application documents which shall be carried out by
the Lithuanian Film Centre;
12.2. assessment of cultural content of the film indicated in the application, which shall be
carried out by a committee of experts appointed by the Director of the Lithuanian Film Centre
director (hereinafter – the Expert Committee);
12.3. evaluation of production criteria of the film indicated in the application, which shall be
carried out by the Lithuanian Film Centre.
13. The applications shall be evaluated no later than within 30 business days from the day of
submission of an Application to the Lithuanian Film Centre.
IV. EXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS AND APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
14. The Lithuanian Film Centre shall, within 10 business days from the day of receipt of the
Application, examine the Application and application documents and determine whether they
satisfy the requirements set forth in points 4-8 of the Procedure. In the event that an Application is
incomplete, inaccurate or lacks one or more of the compulsory documents, the Lithuanian Film
Centre shall inform the Lithuanian film producer thereof and set a time limit to submit the lacking
documents and (or) to define the Application more precisely.
15. If a Lithuanian film producer fails to submit the indicated documents or precisions to the
Lithuanian Film Centre within the established term, the Lithuanian Film Centre shall reject the
Lithuanian film producer’s application without further evaluation and shall notify the Lithuanian
film producer having submitted the application hereof in writing (by post or e-mail).
16. Applications which satisfy the relevant requirements shall be passed on to the Expert
Committee for assessment.
V. ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL CONTENT OF A FILM
17. The Expert Committee shall assess cultural content of films on the basis of the script.
18. The Expert Committee shall consist of 3 members the appointment and decision making
procedure whereof shall be determined by the Director of the Lithuanian Film Centre.
19. A film being produced by a Lithuanian film producer shall be considered in conformity
with the cultural content assessment criteria if:
19.1. the film meets at least two of the film cultural criteria established in Part 1 of Article 8
of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Film; and
19.2. the film is not pornographic and does not promote violence.
20. The Expert Committee shall, within 10 business days from the day of receipt of
applications, evaluate the Applications and submit to the Lithuanian Film Centre its conclusions
concerning the film’s conformity to cultural content assessment criteria.
21. In the event that the Expert Committee concludes that a film being produced by a
Lithuanian film producer does not conform to cultural content assessment criteria, the Lithuanian
Film Centre shall, within 2 business days from receiving the conclusions of the Expert Committee,
notify in writing the Lithuanian film producer that the application has been rejected.
VI. FILM PRODUCTION EVALUATION
22. The Lithuanian Film Centre shall only evaluate the production of those films which,
pursuant to the conclusions of the Expert Committee, conform to cultural content assessment
criteria.
23. A film shall satisfy production evaluation criteria if:
23.1. it is not a promotional film, an advertisement, a television programme, a music video, a
computer game or a television series that is broadcast daily or several times per week and which has
certain character schemes and narrative structure that would allow it to be continued endlessly and
which does not create any artistic value, including but not limited to situation comedies, soap
operas;
23.2. at least three days of shooting take place in the Republic of Lithuania in the course of
the production of a film (except for animation projects);
23.3. during the course of production of an animation project, at least 10 percent of all or at
least 20 percent of two of the elements listed below will be created or produced in the Republic of
Lithuania:
23.3.1. shooting (if the script so requires);
23.3.2. developing and/or creating visual or graphic design of characters, set and props;
23.3.3. compositional layout of a frame, storyboards;
23.3.4. animatic, visual and special effects;
23.4. at least 51 percent of the crew list of the film hired by the Lithuanian film producer are
citizens of the Republic of Lithuania or citizens of other European Economic Area countries.
24. The Lithuanian Film Centre shall, within 5 business days from the day of receiving the
conclusions of the Expert Committee, evaluate the production of the film indicated in the
Application and issue to the Lithuanian film producer a Film Qualification Certificate in a form
approved by the Director of the Lithuanian Film Centre.
25. In the event that the Lithuanian Film Centre determines that the production of a film
indicated in the Application does not conform to film production evaluation criteria, it shall within 2
business days notify the Lithuanian film producer in writing that the Application has been rejected.
VII. ISSUANCE AND VALIDITY OF FILM QUALIFICATION CERTIFICATE
26. The Lithuanian Film Centre shall issue a Film Qualification Certificate in a form
approved by the Director of the Lithuanian Film Centre to a Lithuanian film producer for those
films which satisfy the film cultural content and production evaluation criteria.
27. The Film Qualification Certificate shall be valid for a period of 6 months from the date of
issue during which period the Lithuanian film producer must commence principal photography.
28. A Lithuanian film producer shall inform the Lithuanian Film Centre in writing about the
starting date of principal photography no later than within 3 business days from the first day of
production.
VIII. FINAL PROVISIONS
29. A Lithuanian film producer shall, within 2 months following the completion of production
of a film or its part, submit one copy of the film or its part to the Lithuanian Film Centre on an
electronic medium (CD, DVD, USB) accompanied by film photos and (or) film footage, granting
the Lithuanian Film Centre a non-exclusive right to use the submitted materials for the purposes of
promotion of production of a the film or its part, provided that the owners of the economic rights of
the film do not object to such exploitation of photos and (or) film footage.
30. During either the beginning or end credits of the film indicated in the Film Qualification
Certificate and in either Lithuanian or the language used in the film, the following must be
mentioned: “This film has been created with the support of the Lithuanian tax incentive for film
production”.
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