Top 5 States With The Best Production Incentives
September 22nd, 2014 by RVNA Production Insurance
Trying to decide where to shoot your next production?
Check out the list of the top 5 states with the best incentives for productions below:
1) Louisiana
Program Cap: None Listed
Expiration: None Listed
Incentive: 30% for films and television series with a $300,000 minimum spend amount
Added Perk: Additional 5% tax credit limited to the first $1,000,000 of resident labor.
Note: According to Film L.A., Louisiana was the number one shooting location in the world in 2013, beating out California, Canada, and the United Kingdom as multiple productions took advantage of the tax credit offered. In 2012, film and TV producers created 15,184 jobs and spent $717 million in the state, up over 85% percent from 2010.
2) Georgia
Program Cap: None Listed
Expiration: None Listed
Incentive: 20% for film and television productions with a minimum $500,000 spend amount.
Added Perk: Additional 10% tax credit if the production includes a Georgia promotional logo in the credits.
Note: Incentive eligible projects include feature films, television, animation, visual effects, post, and digital media. In addition to the wide variety of eligible projects, developer Jim Jacoby and his company, Jacoby Development, are investing $1 billion dollars in a manufacturing plant to renovate and have several sound stages in operation by the end of 2014.
3) California
Program Cap: $100,000,000
Expiration: June 2015
Incentive: 20% for films, MOWs, miniseries, and new television series. 25% for relocating television series and independent films, with a $1,000,000 spend minimum amount and $500,000 spend minimum amount for MOW/miniseries. 75% of the production days or budget must also be in California to qualify.
Added Perk: Shooting an independent film? $10 million is reserved for independent films each year.
Note: On August 29, 2014, the California Senate approved legislation that would increase funding for the state’s incentives from $100,000,000 to $350,000,000 per year beginning in July
2015. On September 18, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed the
bill into law. This new legislation also replaces the lottery
system and rather selects films based on the number of jobs
they will create.
via film.alaska.gov
4) Alaska
Program Cap: $200,000,000
Expiration: 2016
Incentive: 30% for films and television series’ local spend amount, plus 20% for resident labor wages with a $75,000 minimum spend amount.
Added Perk: Productions can claim an extra 6% tax credit if they are filming in a rural area, and an extra 2% for filming between October 1st and March 30th.
Note: While Alaska has one of the highest program caps, wintery conditions and travel costs are not ideal for projects on tight budgets. Despite these factors, productions should take advantage of the substantial credit being offered while they can.
5) Illinois
Program Cap: None
Expiration: May 2021
Incentive: 30% of all qualified expenditures, including post-production, with a minimum $100,000 spend amount.
Added perk: 30% credit on Illinois salaries up to $100,000 per worker. An additional 15% tax credit on salaries of individuals who live in economically disadvantaged areas.
Note: While Chicago may have been overlooked in the past to provide city backdrops, Rich Moskal, director of the Chicago Film Office says business has picked up, especially with television series like Chicago Fire.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Massachusetts
Program Cap: None
Expiration: January 2023
Incentive: 25% production and 25% payroll credit for qualified spend amounts in state with a $50,000 minimum spend amount. Another requirement is that 50% of principal photography or production expenses must be in-state.
Added Perk: The sales tax exemption! Credits can also be used for up to five tax years.
Note: Massachusetts has a crew base of over 4,500 professionals, and the $41 million Boston-adjacent New England Studios has four 18,000 square-foot soundstages and Wi-Fi networks with speeds up to 10 GB.
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New York
Program Cap: $420,000,000
Expiration: 2019
Incentive: 30% for films and television series’ qualified production costs with no minimum spend, and an additional 30–35% for certain post production expenditures under a stand-alone program.
Added Perk: 5% on qualified production expenses for commercials and a 20% annual growth credit in addition to an overall sales tax exemption.
Note: One downside to New York is with so many projects applying to film throughout the state, the $420 million allotted might run out ahead of its expiration date.
Is your production taking place in one of these states? Tweet us at @InsuringFilms
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