Eccholine, a firm providing production services to reality and entertainment shows, has set up a branch in Malta as it seeks to establish operations in the country.

Axel Boer, Managing Director of Eccholine Malta, has stated that the local tax incentives schemes, together with the “consistent weather” and “spectacular locations”, made Malta an attractive destination for such productions.

Publicly available records at the Malta Business Registry show that Eccholine Malta Holdings Limited was registered on 3rd March. 

Malta’s 40 per cent refund on eligible costs has long been used by the film and television industry, drawing major productions like Game of Thrones, World War Z, and Jurassic World in recent years.

“We decided to invest in Malta and set up a local company because we believe Malta is ideally placed to accommodate international TV productions,” said Mr Boer.

“The Maltese authorities have created a financially very interesting framework to incentivise production on the island.”

“Quite uniquely,” he continued, “the scheme can be applied to reality and entertainment programming.”

He said that Eccholine have “spent the last 18 months discovering Malta, getting to grip with all the rules and regulations governing the incentive scheme and building an extensive network of contacts, locations, accommodations and invaluable relations with the relevant authorities and organisations.”

Eccholine has been involved in the production of European fan favourites like Peking Express, a Dutch-Flemish production, and Ninja Warrior.

Peking Express follows couples as they race to hitchhike to far-away destinations. As the name implies, the first three seasons had Beijing as a starting or final location, although subsequent seasons deviated from this format.

Ninja Warrior, promoted as “the toughest course on TV”, sets contestants a number of physical challenges.