Written by new-contact on Apr 13, 2012. Posted in Incentive News

Alaska filming locations and incentives attract interest of US features

Two separate US feature projects are scouting Alaskan filming locations and could be a real boost for the US state if they decide to film there. Hunter Killer is a submarine thriller budgeted at up to USD100 million, while a smaller USD10 million project is also considering the 49th state.

Alaska has struggled to attract the attention of the major US studios despite launching a filming tax credit programme worth up to 44% of local expenditure. Supporters say the programme is boosting inward investment and are calling for a ten-year extension beyond its current 2013 expiry limit.

Critics have questioned how much money Alaska actually gets back from the incentive and they argue that incentives on their own are not enough to develop local filming industries. There have also been concerns that Hollywood shoots have attracted negative press for some of the state’s core energy industries.

It sounds like there have been a couple big projects that have come through here and had a lot of success. This is definitely our strong preference. We're here to make sure we can make it work.

Jeremy Kipp Walker, Wayfare Entertainment Ventures

Jeremy Kipp Walker is Head of Production for New York-based Wayfare Entertainment Ventures, which is producing the USD10 million project, and spoke to Anchorage Daily News: “It sounds like there have been a couple big projects that have come through here and had a lot of success. This is definitely our strong preference. We're here to make sure we can make it work.”

A limited Alaskan crew base means Wayfare may have to schedule production to avoid clashing with the much larger Hunter Killer.

Family drama Big Miracle has been the highest-profile feature to have shot in Alaska since the incentives were launched.