As a decision on the state’s film incentive looms, the North Carolina Film Office is reporting that spending by productions this year has already surpassed last year’s total.
The first six months of 2014 saw an estimated $268 million in direct in-state spending by productions and nearly 19,000 job opportunities for North Carolinians, the film office reports.
With half a year’s worth of spending to go, that’s already above last year’s total of just over $254 million.
The report states more than 40 productions had filed “intent to film” forms as of July 15. Those forms indicate productions have filmed or will film in the state through the course of this year. That activity has resulted in more than 3,300 production days spread across 35 of the state’s 100 counties.
Last year, the state saw more than 60 productions work a record-setting 5,700-plus days—a 40-percent increase over the previous year’s totals. (2012 was also the year of “Iron Man 3,” which contributed to a record-breaking $376 million in spending.)
This year’s activity—which in Wilmington has included the TV series “Under the Dome,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Secrets & Lies,” as well as feature films “Max Steel” and “The Longest Ride”—has created more than 3,000 crew positions and 500 talent opportunities, as well as 15,000 background talent positions, according to a release from the film office.
“The 2014 mid-year figures are a strong follow-up to 2013, which saw a record-breaking 5,000-plus production days from more than 60 productions that created nearly 25,000 job opportunities, including more than 4,000 crew positions,” the release states. “The 2014 mid-year figures eclipse last year’s total direct in-state spending mark of more than $254 million by productions.”
The release adds that during the past six years, productions’ direct in-state spending has totaled more than $1.3 billion.
The strong midyear numbers come at a time of uncertainty for the state’s film industry, as the current film incentive—set to expire at the end of this year—has been a topic of debate for legislators in Raleigh.
The current incentive—a 25 percent refundable tax credit for productions that spend at least $250,000—has been credited with the upsurge in film activity, but a proposal introduced in this year’s session of the General Assembly would change that incentive to a grant fund program that critics have said would prove less effective, potentially resulting in productions going elsewhere—and taking the local crew base and economic impacts with them.
Related story: Film incentive hangs in balance as legislative session gets underway
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and executives with EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington have asked for a one-year extension of the incentive to continue deliberations beyond the short session. But a decision on an extension or the grant fund proposal has been delayed by debate on a state budget bill, which lawmakers have said they intend to adopt this week.
Once a budget bill is adopted, a decision on the incentive is expected to follow quickly, said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.
“We’ve been hearing all along that the budget had to get out of the way first, and once that was done, then film, along with various other things, would then be dealt with very quickly,” Griffin said, “so they can hurry up and get out of there.
“We’ve not heard any specifics, but we’re anticipating that this week there will be some sort of a resolve. What that is and what shape it takes, we don’t know,” Griffin said, “but based on all the signals, it looks like this is the week that they want to wrap stuff up, so we’re very anxious to see what happens.”
The timing of the midyear numbers report release with the looming decision on the film incentive debate was not lost on Griffin, who called it sad that the state is considering a change at a time when such numbers continue to come in.
“Through the end of this year, our incentive that we have is still in place and is still very favorable, and as a result, you can see that we’re going to have another record year,” Griffin said. “These productions that are here and are spending this amount of money obviously will all be finished by the end of 2014, which is when the incentive ends.
“Going forward into 2015, we obviously have no clue what the business could look like,” he said. “But it’s sad to think that at a time when business is doing so great, folks are talking so much about North Carolina and have been bringing projects here all year long to allow us to have another record year, the state is seriously contemplating reducing the effectiveness of that incentive or possibly eliminating the incentive, which is just very sad timing, I think.”
Related stories:
- Report details film expenses, incentive payouts
- Five months into 2014, local film spending surpassing last year’s numbers
- Year in film, 2013: Big numbers for North Carolina, Wilmington
Jonathan Spiers is a reporter for Port City Daily. He can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @jrspiers
