A series of major TV dramas – including the Stephen King miniseries Under the Dome – filmed in North Carolina in 2013 and helped deliver production spending of USD254 million. This could bolster calls to renew the state’s 25% filming incentive, which is set to expire at the end of 2014.
Michigan has awarded a filming incentive payment for new TV pilot 12 Monkeys, which will shoot on location in Detroit. The show will be based on the 1995 dystopian time-travel feature of the same name, which starred Bruce Willis and featured Brad Pitt.
Clint Eastwood and Darren Aronofsky are among the high-profile filmmakers voicing their support for the Icelandic Film Fund as the industry faces major cuts in 2014. Iceland’s production industry has been booming but the government is under pressure to reduce spending.
New Zealand has announced it will expand its national filming incentive programme and an agreement has also been reached to host James Cameron’s three Avatar sequels. From April 2014, big-budget international productions will be able to get a filming incentive of up to 25%.
A new business plan is helping bring more commercial filming to Washington State in the north-west US. The Commercial Business Development Plan (CBDP) was created through a partnership with Washington Filmworks and the Seattle Office of Film + Music.
New Zealand filmmaker Andrew Adamson has joined the call for more generous filming incentives in the country. The filmmaker directed both of Disney’s big-budget Narnia films and has also steered the Shrek movies.
A new study for the Dubai Film and TV Commission has advised the emirate city to consider formal filming incentives as part of a wider strategy to boost its production industry. Offering longer-term residency to production crew is also suggested.
The Governor of Maryland spotlighted the benefits of his state’s filming incentive programme this week with a visit to the set of the award-winning political satire Veep. Although set in Washington, DC, the show films in Maryland because of the filming incentives on offer.