No North Carolina Films Currently in Production

By Staff

Has the North Carolina legislatures jihad against the NC Film incentives killed the state’s film industry?  According to a new story by WRAL’s Laura Leslie,  Guy Gaster, executive director of the North Carolina Film Office, confirmed that there are no movies currently in pre-production, production, or even planned for North Carolina in 2015.

A study released in 2014, and conducted by a North Carolina State Poole College of Management distinguished professor Dr. Robert Handfield found the tax incentive intended to attract film and television production to the State has produced a significant return on investment for North Carolina’s economy. Beginning in 2007, when the incentive was first enacted, through 2012, the film and television industry has spent $1.02 billion in the state and generated a projected $170,000,000 in tax revenue. The cost of the credit over the same time period was $112,000,000. The result means that for every dollar of credit issued, the industry generated $9.11 in direct spending and contributed $1.52 in tax revenue back to North Carolina.  This year there will be little to no return with only a single television show, “The Dome” and a couple of reality shows.  We lost “Sleepy Hollow” to Georgia after the North Carolina General Assembly killed the film incentive program.

As reported by WRAL:

Guy Gaster, executive director of the North Carolina Film Office, said productions are taking a wait-and-see approach after the General Assembly decided not to renew a state tax credit for film, television and commercial productions.

Since 2010, productions have been able to claim a 25 percent refund on qualified spending on a production, up to $20 million. Producers applied for $62.2 million in credits in 2013, the most recent information available.

Film projects brought more than $316 million to North Carolina last year, filming in more than three dozen counties statewide, including Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham, Franklin and Cumberland counties. The tax credit filing period is still pending, so it’s not clear yet how much production companies will claim in credits for the year.

So much for economic development.

You can read the entire WRAL story HERE.

You can read more about the Handfield study HERE.