North Carolina has downgraded its filming incentive from a tax credit to an annual grant in a development that will make it less appealing to shoots like Under the Dome and Sleepy Hollow. The move comes after months of production lobbying to keep the state’s generous filming tax credit.
True-life feature The 33 has become the first international movie to get a payment from Colombia’s new filming incentive programme. The movie recounts the story of 33 miners who were trapped down a mine shaft in Chile for 69 days in 2010.
A proposed boost to California’s filming incentive programme has cleared the latest political hurdle on the way to becoming law. The increased tax credit was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee with an annual fund of around USD 400 million.
Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming TV sports drama Ballers has secured filming incentive support to shoot on location in Florida from November this year. Johnson previously filmed on location in the state for his Miami-based bodybuilding crime drama Pain & Gain.
The North Carolina future of high-profile TV shoots like Under the Dome is uncertain as authorities consider the future of the state’s filming incentive. North Carolina’s 25% filming tax credit is set to expire at the end of this year and has not yet been renewed.
The Pittsburgh Film Office has renewed calls for an uncapped filming incentive ahead of expected shoots involving Will Smith and Vin Diesel. Pennsylvania offers a 25% tax credit that has helped attract shoots like Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher, but it is capped at USD60 million annually.
The California Film Commission has announced initial filming incentive approval for 26 productions for the next year. Eleven features and 13 TV series are among those selected for the state’s 20% tax credit, including one show – Being Mary Jane – that’s relocating from Georgia.
The Czech Republic has increased the fund for its filming incentive in a move that could help attract more productions on the scale of the BBC’s The Musketeers. Prague launched the 20% filming incentive in 2010 and the fund has been increased to the equivalent of USD40 million for this year.