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May 18 - 22, 2012

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May 16, 2012

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May 3, 2012

EP Incentive Solutions Update Available

May 1, 2012

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April 26, 2012

EP Incentive Solutions Update Available

PRODUCTION INCENTIVES

RECENT UPDATES - October 21, 2011

New Incentive Information Added
Proposed Legislation Updates
Film Commission Updates
Updates by Jurisdiction

New incentive information added for:

Proposed legislation updates for:

ALASKA (removed)
ARIZONA (removed)
CALIFORNIA (removed)
CONNECTICUT (removed)
GEORGIA (removed)
ILLINOIS (removed)
KENTUCKY (removed)
LOUISIANA (removed)
MAINE
MICHIGAN
MISSOURI (removed)
MONTANA (removed)
NEVADA (removed)
NEW YORK (removed)
NEW YORK - New York (removed)
NORTH CAROLINA (removed)
OKLAHOMA (removed)
OREGON (removed)
PENNSYLVANIA (removed)
RHODE ISLAND (removed)
SOUTH CAROLINA (removed)
WISCONSIN (removed)
AUSTRALIA FEDERAL
CANADA - Alberta
CANADA - Nova Scotia (removed)
CANADA - Quebec (removed)
MEXICO (removed)

Film Commission updates for:

ALABAMA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Annual funding caps, including incentives granted for sales, use, and lodging taxes = $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and subsequent years
Project Criteria: For qualified state-certified productions (excluding productions limited to only soundtrack projects and music videos): minimum spend = $500,000 and maximum spend = $10,000,000; qualified soundtrack projects: minimum spend = $50,000 and maximum spend = $300,000; qualified music video projects: minimum spend = $50,000 and maximum spend = $200,000

ALASKA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Aggregate tax credits = $100,000,000 (approximately $57,000,000 remaining as of September 1, 2011)

CALIFORNIA

Sunset/Review: June 30, 2015
Footnote: The program is now fully subscribed through June 2012. Any projects wanting to apply now will be put on the waiting list, pending any credits that may become available. Applicants that want to apply for the waiting list may want to call the California Film Commission to determine the length of the list and the potential for available credits.

Principal photography of the qualified motion picture cannot commence sooner than 30 days after application submission and no later than 180 days after the date of acceptance into the program.

CALIFORNIA - San Francisco

Type of Incentive: Film and television rebate program and vendor discount program
Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): 100% of "qualified production cost" (100% of city costs and the 1.5% payroll tax); 10% to 30% discount with more than 80 merchants around SF, including hotels, car rentals, production services, etc.

CALIFORNIA - Santa Clarita

Type of Incentive: Refund of basic film permit fee
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $50,000 total (until funds run out)
Project Criteria: Locally based productions must be based at approved location in Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) for a minimum of four consecutive weeks; recurring productions must pull four local permits within a fiscal year; production has been approved for the CA Film & Television Tax Credit Program
Sunset/Review: June 30, 2012

COLORADO

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $3,000,000 cap on compensation; contact Film Office first before applying because funding is limited
Loan-Out Considerations: All income taxes must be withheld and paid by either the production company or the individual

CONNECTICUT

Type of Incentive: Transferable production expense credit; transferable infrastructure project credit; transferable digital animation production company credit
Project Criteria: A 10% credit is available for minimum qualifying local spend of $100,000 to $500,000; 15% is available for spend > $500,000 to $1,000,0000; a 30% credit is available for a qualifying local spend > $1,000,000 for the film and digital animation credits; film projects must meet a 50% local principal photography requirement or 50% of post-production costs or spend not less than $1,000,000 in the state on post-production costs; minimum spend for an interactive website is > $500,000 per year; for state-certified infrastructure projects costing ≥ $3,000,000, the credit is 20%

FLORIDA

Type of Incentive: Transferable tax credit (2 transfers, 5-year carry forward); credits cannot be claimed before July 1, 2011; contingent upon legislative appropriation, the Department of Revenue will purchase credits at 90% of face value
Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): 20% of qualifying spend (including digital media projects), with 5% bonus for "off season" projects and 5% bonus for "family-friendly" projects; additional bonuses for the General Production Queue include 5% Qualified Production Facility Bonus, 5% Qualified Digital Media Production Facility Bonus, 5% Underutilized Region Bonus, 15% FL Student/Recent Graduate Bonus; maximum combined total of bonuses and base is 30%
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $242,000,000 in credits available for five years starting July 1, 2010; credit is capped at $8,000,000 per "general production queue" project, $125,000 per "independent and emerging media production queue" project, and $500,000 per "commercial and music video queue" project; wages and compensation are capped at $400,000 per person; annual funding caps are 2010-2011 = $53,500,000, 2011-2012 = $74,500,000, and 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015 = $42,000,000; annual funding is allocated as follows: 94% for the general production queue, 3% for the independent and emerging media production queue, and 3% for the commercial and music video production queue; surplus credits from the smaller queues can be carried forward to the next year's general production queue; once the annual funding allotment is exhausted, applications roll over to future years' funding within the applicable queue
Project Criteria: ≥ 50% of cast and below-the-line crew must be residents or eligible students (the requirement increases to ≥ 60% in the fiscal year 2012-2013); for digital media projects the requirement is ≥ 75% of such positions; the general production queue has a minimum local qualifying spend of $625,000 (can span multiple fiscal years, a qualified "high impact television series" gets priority in this queue); the commercial and music video queue has a minimum per project spend of $100,000 with a minimum qualifying threshold for (multiple "bundled") projects of $500,000 per fiscal year; the independent and emerging media production queue has a qualifying local spend ≥ $100,000 to ≤ $625,000

GEORGIA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $500,000 cap per salaried employee paid by W-2; no salary cap if production company pays an individual subject to 1099 reporting (e.g., personal services contract, loan-out company payments)

IDAHO

Project Criteria: Minimum local spend = $200,000; effective July 1, 2011, 30% of crew working on production must be Idaho residents and 35% effective July 1, 2012

INDIANA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: No per project cap; $2,500,000 annual funding; $2,500,000 available until December 31, 2011

KENTUCKY

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $100,000 per person cap on above-the-line "crew" (actors, directors, producers, writers); fiscal year 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 funding caps of $5,000,000 and $7,500,000, respectively ($7,200,000 currently available through June 30, 2012)

MARYLAND

Type of Incentive: Refundable tax credit
Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): 25% of qualified spend for film, 27% of qualified spend for television series
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: No per project cap; $7.5 million in annual funding each fiscal year until 2014
Sunset/Review: July 1, 2014
Loan-Out Considerations: Loan-outs are subject to all applicable Maryland laws including withholding requirements. Production company must provide film office with list of loan out companies paid in connection with the film activity.

MINNESOTA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $1,000,000 available during 2011 for the Snowbate program; contact Film Office for more information regarding available funds and eligibility
Sunset/Review: June 30, 2015

NEW MEXICO

Type of Incentive: Refundable tax credit (see footnote)
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year:There is a "rolling cap" of $50,000,000 on the tax credits paid out for all projects each fiscal year (July 1 to June 30); this means that any accrued amounts greater than $50,000,000 in any one fiscal year will be "rolled over" into the next fiscal year; there is no prequalifying or "getting in line" as credits will be awarded based upon when you file your credit claim and tax return; for current fiscal year projections, visit www.nmfilm.com; there is a $5,000,000 tax credit cap per project only on all non-resident "performing artists" compensation (i.e., amounts collectively paid to performing artists in excess of $20,000,000 will be not be eligible for the credit); there are no other project or funding caps
Loan-Out Considerations: Production company loan-out (known as "super loan-out") must pay NM gross receipts taxes on the portion of those payments to nonresident "performing artists" (SAG and stunt performers in front of the camera) qualifying for the film tax credit; payments to nonresident performing artists, which are eligible for the tax credit, must also be subject to income tax withholding.
Footnote: Productions may benefit from either the gross receipts tax deduction/sales tax exemption or the 25% refundable tax credit, but not from both.

NEW YORK

Type of Incentive: Refundable film production credit (if the credit is ≥ $1,000,000, but < $5,000,000, it is payable in equal amounts over 2 years; if the credit is ≥ $5 million, the refund is payable over 3 years from the date it can be claimed; Pool 2 funds cannot be claimed until the later of completion or the year following the "allocation year"); refundable post-production tax credit (payable over 2 years); there is also an investment tax credit for qualified film production facilities
Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): 30% of qualifying production local spend (facility, location, and post-production costs); 10% of the qualifying post-production spend (if 30% credit not claimed); 4% to 5% of the eligible investment credit base

NEW YORK - New York

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $30,000,000 annual cap on first-come, first-served basis (if exhausted, carries over to next year's allotment); funding for the program has been exhausted as announced on July 1, 2009, by the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting

NORTH CAROLINA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Cap of $1,000,000 per person on compensation; $20,000,000 per feature film; no other caps

OHIO

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Per project cap of $5,000,000; $30,000,000 funding for the fiscal biennium July 1, 2009, to July 30, 2011; $20,000,000 for subsequent biennia (not more than $10,000,000 may be allowed in the first year); OH has allocated all of its tax credits for fiscal year 2012 (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012), which was capped at $10,000,000

OKLAHOMA

Type of Incentive: Cash rebate (see footnote on jurisdiction page); non-refundable, non-transferable income tax credits for construction of OK film/music facilities
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: $5,000,000 per year; funding exhausted until the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012

OREGON

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: OPIF= compensation exclusion for no per project cap, $7,500,000 annual funding (funding exhausted for OPIF until the next fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012); GOLR = no annual funding cap, project capped by aggregate rate paid
Sunset/Review: December 31, 2017

PENNSYLVANIA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: There is a $15,000,000 per project cap on aggregate compensation paid to performing artists; the annual funding for 2011-2012 is $60,000,000; contact Film Office for status of available funds

SOUTH CAROLINA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: No project caps; annual funding of $10,000,000 for wage rebate and 26% of admissions tax collected for previous year for the supplier rebate; approximately $16,000,000 of funding available for fiscal year 2012

TEXAS

Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): 5% to 15% of qualifying local spend or 8% to 25% of wages paid to TX residents; if ≥ 25% of filming days are in "underutilized areas," the grant is increased by 2.5% for the local spend option or 4.25% if the wage option is selected; incentive is tiered based on local spend; 5% incentive for reality and talk shows
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Compensation in excess of $1,000,000 is excluded; annual funding is $15,000,000 for both fiscal years 2012 and 2013 beginning September 1, 2011, and September 1, 2012, respectively
Project Criteria: Minimum local spend = $250,000 for film or television program, or $100,000 for a commercial, series of commercials, educational and instructional videos and digital interactive media productions; ≥ 70% of cast (including extras) and crew must be residents (unless it is determined that there are insufficient residents to fill the positions; reality television and talk shows not subject to the ≥ 70% resident cast requirement); ≥ 60% of the moving image must be filmed locally

UTAH

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Tax credit offered without a per project cap; approximately $9,000,000 remaining for FY 2012 as of September 16, 2011, for tax credit; cash rebate offered with a maximum cap of $500,000 per project; approximately $3,000,000 remaining for FY 2012 as of September 16, 2011, for cash rebate; ongoing funds of $6,700,000 annually for tax credit, no per project cap

VIRGINIA

Type of Incentive: Cash rebate; in addition, a 15% to 20% refundable tax credit (with bonuses for local and first-time hires)
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Contact Film Office for current funding available

WASHINGTON

Footnote: Washington Filmworks' production incentive program sunset on June 30, 2011; attempts will be made to renew the program during the 2012 legislative session beginning January 2012.

WEST VIRGINIA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: No per project cap; $10,000,000 annual funding (approximately $8,000,000 remaining as of September 2, 2011, until June 30, 2012)

WISCONSIN

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Funding is set at $500,000 per fiscal year; contact Film Office for status of available funds
Loan-Out Considerations: Currently not required to register to do business in the state. The state agency of jurisdiction in regards to this matter is the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI); if the corporation wishes to file, upon the advice of its attorney, the following information is useful. They can file corporations online or they can contact the DFI at 608.261.7577 or they can download the appropriate form.

WYOMING

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: No per project cap; approximately $1,200,000 remaining in the fund as of September 13, 2011; $900,000 will be added July 2013

AUSTRALIA - Victoria

Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): Incentive grants are negotiated on a project by project basis, depending on screen industry benefits and economic impact
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Production Investment Attraction Fund (PIAF) = No Cap; Regional Location Assistance Fund (RLAF) = A$100,000 project cap
Project Criteria: "Footloose" projects eligible for alternative locations; ≥ 70% of the total production budget will be local spend or ≥ A$3,500,000 local spend; if post-production project, ≥ three Victoria (VIC) post production services must be utilized or PDV spend must be >A$500,000; production budget must be secured; the RLAF grant requires ≥ five days in regional VIC locations during principal photography

AUSTRIA

Project Criteria: Minimum local spend = 20% of total production costs; minimum production budget = €1,000,000 for movies and €200,000 for documentaries; project must pass cultural test; minimum length = 79 minutes for movies and documentaries, 59 minutes for children's films
Local film incentives maybe available in Tirol, Styria, and Vienna.

CANADA - New Brunswick

Type of Incentive: Refundable tax credit (see footnote)
Footnote: The budget announcement included a phase-out of the film tax credit in 2011–2012. Pre-production applications for the film tax credit that received approval prior to March 22, 2011, will continue to be eligible for the NB film tax credit. Applications received on or before April 5, 2011, may have been pre-approved to be eligible for the film tax credit.

CAYMAN ISLANDS

Type of Incentive: Cash rebate (incentive is currently on hold; please contact the Cayman Island Film Commission for current status of incentive program)

CZECH REPUBLIC

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Eligible spend is capped at 80% of total budget; funding of CZK300,000,000 (approximately US$17,000,000) available in 2011 on a first-come, first-served basis
Project Criteria: Feature, television, animated, and documentary films must be ≥ 70 minutes and television episodes ≥ 40 minutes each; minimum local spend = CZK15,000,000 (approximately US$845,000) for theatrical and television films, CZK3,000,000 (approximately US$169,000) for theatrical documentaries, and CZK10,000,000 (approximately US$563,000) for each television episode; projects must pass a cultural test (minimum four points of cultural criteria and an overall 23 out of 46 possible points)

FRANCE

Project Criteria: Minimum local spend = €1,000,000 for eligible fictional and animation projects, including films, TV dramas, and TV series; minimum shoot (live action) = five days (N/A for animation or VFX); culture test

IRELAND

Type of Incentive: Up-front production funding paid in cash on the first day of shooting or on financial closing

ITALY - Apulia

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: Capped at €150,000 for feature films, TV films, and TV series; €40,000 for documentaries, docu-fictions, mockumentaries; €30,000 fiction shorts and video clips, and €15,000 for video games; annual funding = €1,600,000
Project Criteria: ≥ 35% of cast and crew (including post-production team but excluding extras) must be born or reside in Apulia; minimum local spend = 200% of the project grant; minimum three weeks of local filming for full length films, two weeks for documentaries, four working days for shorts and video clips and at least four weeks of post-production at an Apulian company for animation films or video games

ITALY - Friuli Venezia Giulia

Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): Up to €150,000 in cash grants to audiovisual production filming in Friuli Venezia Giulia (25 days)
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: €5,000 for projects filming in the region over one week (five days of filming); €20,000 for projects filming over three weeks; €40,000 for projects filming over five weeks; and €150,000 for projects filming over seven weeks
Project Criteria: 150% of the regional grant must be spent in the region, with the exception of crews and investment expenses; filming in the region must equal at least 50% of the total filming of the cut, except for productions filming in the region for less than five weeks and for serials of more than two episodes; for the latter, filming in the region must equal at least 10% of the entire external filming of the cut

MEXICO

Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): Two benefits up to 17.5% of qualifying local spend comprised of: (1) a refund of VAT up to 16%, and (2) up to 7.5% of qualified local spend
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: US $20,000,000 "scalable" to US $40,000,000; no cap on the reimbursement per project; fund works on a first-come, first-served basis
Project Criteria: Minimum spend = MXN$70,000,000 (approximately US$5,350,000) in pre-production and production phases and/or MXN$20,000,000 (approximately US$1,530,000) on post-production; a combination of both may apply, in which case the minimum required spend is MXN$70,000,000; VAT return does not require a minimum spend in Mexico

NEW ZEALAND

Maximum Benefit (if eligibility requirements are met): 15% of qualifying local spend (QNZPE) for LBSP and PDV Grants; 40% of qualifying local spend (QNZPE) on eligible feature films for SPIF Grant, and 20% on eligible television, documentary and short form animation also for SPIF Grant; an additional grant of 15% is available to projects spending more than NZ$200,000,000; calculated based on "qualifying additional expenditure" (guaranteed deferments, participation, and residual payments to NZ tax residents)
Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: There is no ceiling on compensation for LBSP and PDV; for SPIF Grants the maximum amount eligible for QNZPE for any individual project is NZ$15,000,000; no caps on projects or funding per year for LBSP and PDV; the additional grant is capped at NZ$9,750,000 per project
Project Criteria: Minimum QNZPE = NZ$15,000,000 for LBSP, or NZ$3,000,000 in post-production digital and visual effects work; bundling of productions costing a minimum of NZ$3,000,000 to meet the NZ$30,000,000 QNZPE over 24 months; bundling of episodes (completed within 12 months) averaging NZ$500,000 per hour is permitted to meet the minimum spend; for SPIF Grant, minimum QNZPE = NZ$4,000,000 for eligible feature films with minimum 60 minute duration except IMAX is 45 minutes, minimum QNZPE = NZ$1,000,000 and no less than NZ$800,000 per hour for single episodic program, minimum QNZPE = NZ$1,000,000 and no less than NZ$500,000 per hour for eligible episodic series of programs, minimum QNZPE = NZ$250,000 for eligible single episodic documentary per half hour duration, minimum QNZPE = NZ$250,000 per quarter hour for eligible short-form animation, and all eligible projects must contain significant NZ content; official co-productions of feature films or TV programming produced under one of NZ's co-production agreements will automatically qualify as having significant NZ content and may be eligible to apply for an SPIF Grant
Sunset/Review: Review for LBSP, PDV, and SPIF Grants to be concluded by June 30, 2012; SPIF Grant currently due to expire June 30, 2013 but may be extended subject to review findings

SOUTH AFRICA

Compensation and Project Caps/Funding Per Year: No caps