Saturday Film Incentive News Wrap-Up

It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for our weekly look at some of the news about film incentive programs around the country.  Now, you know the focus of this site is Oregon’s film and TV industry, and its effect on the state’s economy.  It’s important to keep an eye on trends nationwide, though.  The film and TV industry is an interdependent organism; what happens around the country affects Oregon’s industry, and what happens in Oregon affects the rest of the country as well. 

While each state’s incentive program is different, it’s important to see the “big picture” by keeping an eye on the choices other states have made – to learn from their successes and their mistakes.

So, with that…

The film industry has been focused on the Toronto Film Festival this past week, and so has Michigan!  As this story on MLive.com notes, five of the festivals offerings were shot in the state widely-acknowledged to have the country’s most generous film incentive plan - and those five films represent over 1000 jobs and nearly $40 million dollars invested in that state’s economy.  Even so, the state’s incentive program continues to be a source of controversy as election day draws near - especially in the wake of a new report released by the state’s non-partisan Seante Fiscal Agency.

Colleges in Ohio are beginning to notice that as the state’s film incentives bring production into the Buckeye State, interest in film production programs are at an all-time high.  Like the University of Oregon and Portland State University, several colleges in Ohio are beginning or upgrading film production programs to prepare their students for Ohio’s growing industry.

Back in June, we discussed Alaska’s new film incentive plan and the new Drew Barrymore film that is the first movie to take advantage of it.  Now comes word of a second film to take advantage of the incentive plan, and a new strategic partnership to build a $1 billion film industry in Anchorage over the next decade.

It’s often been noted that Nevada is one of the few states in the US without an incentive program – because films and TV shows set in Las Vegas will usually shoot in Las Vegas, incentive or not.  Lawmakers are noticing the amount of film business setting up shop in neighboring New Mexico, however, and have started discussing the possibility of a Nevada film incentive plan in an effort to diversify that state’s business.

And outside US Borders, Austria has joined a growing list of countries offering their own incentive plans with the enactment of a Film Austria – a €20 million program that will cover up to 25% of a production’s local spending.  Meanwhile, in Canada, changes to Nova Scotia’s incentive plan have resulted in an immense drop in animation work - and digital animators in that province are rallying to change the plan back.