The future of Mississippi's 25% tax rebate on non-resident payroll - part of the state's production incentive programme - is uncertain after attempts to extend the rebate past July 2017 were shot down in the Senate.
Despite having a successful history with film and television for almost a century, Arizona’s production industry is definitely moving into new territory.
Arizona’s newly launched Film and Digital Media Office, dubbed ‘Studio 48’ will be making its first public appearance at FOCUS 2016, December 6th and 7th at the Business Design Centre in London.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has laid out his intention to allow the state’s film incentive programme to sunset in 2017. Bryant’s proposed budget for the 2018 fiscal year which begins July 1st, brings the investment of the state incentive into question and criticises its long-term value.
A new TV adaptation of the iconic 1970s slavery drama Roots will film in Louisiana. Based on the novel by Alex Haley, the series follows Gambian Kunta Kinte, sold into slavery in the late 1760s, and the experiences of himself and those of his descendents over the next 200 years.
Woody Harrelson will play Lyndon B Johnson in a new film about the 36th President of the United States that will shoot on location in Texas, Louisiana and Washington, DC. Production for LBJ will follow historical drama The Free State of Jones, filming in New Orleans.
Louisiana has for the first time committed to a yearly filming incentive spending cap. The southern state will offer USD 180 million annually, which the production industry has said could impact its appeal to future shoots on the scale of Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys.
Louisiana is likely to impose a cap on annual spending for its 30% filming incentive in the coming weeks. The state has recently hosted dinosaur sequel Jurassic World and is currently home to Matthew McConaughey’s true-life Civil War drama The Free State of Jones.