Written by on Mar 30, 2012. Posted in Incentive News

Alabama approves small increase in state-wide filming incentive

A senate panel in Alabama has approved a small increase in the state’s filming incentive. The existing annual film fund will increase from USD10 million to USD15 million by 2014, which is better than nothing but still means Alabama’s out of contention for large-scale projects.

Octavia Spencer won an Oscar this year for her role in The Help and spoke to Associated Press when she was honoured this week in the Alabama Statehouse: “I want to give a heartfelt thank you to all those who voted to pass [sponsor] Terri Collins' incentives bill. I'm going to do what I can to get more movies made here.”

The original plan was to raise the annual figure to USD25 million, but the move was opposed by Roger Bedford, the Senate Minority Leader. Surprisingly, Bedford questions whether increased incentives will actually draw more productions to Alabama, which seems to overlook the clear successes of states like Louisiana and New York.