The Film Guarantee Fund approved today another application by Mandarin Films for a film production project.

HKCB Finance has agreed to provide a facility of $4.83 million and the fund will guarantee 50% of the loan.

Commissioner for Television & Entertainment Licensing Lorna Wong welcomed the move.

"We have provided loan guarantees for three film projects since the introduction of the Film Guarantee Fund scheme in April. The amount of loans guaranteed so far is $6 million," she said.

"The fund has facilitated the development of a local film-financing infrastructure to support the long-term and healthy development of the film industry. We believe that more film companies will make use of the scheme to finance their productions."

Set up in April, the $50-million fund provides loan guarantees to local lending institutions that offer loan facilities to movie productions that have secured a film completion arrangement.

The maximum loan guarantee for each film is 35% of the production budget or $2.625 million, whichever is less.

All movie production companies registered locally that have produced at least three films in the past 10 years for commercial release in Hong Kong theatres are eligible to apply for a guarantee.

Application forms can be obtained from the Film Services Office website. For enquiries, please call 2594 5729 or 2594 5726, or email info@fso-tela.gov.hk.