Written by on Sep 3, 2014. Posted in Incentive News

MPAA chairman invites US film commissioners to incentive summit in Washington

The chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has invited state film commissioners from across the US to a filming incentive summit in Washington, DC. On 29 September Chris Dodd will talk about improving support for incentive programmes.

News of the summit has emerged shortly after California authorities made a deal to boost the state’s filming incentive in a bid to tackle its long-term runaway production problem. This has prompted industry speculation that the MPAA summit is a direct response to the California development, although the organisation has reportedly denied this.

“We will discuss how to better partner to garner additional legislative and other political support for your jurisdiction’s production incentive programme,” the MPAA invitation reportedly said: “Hear from film commissioners how (the) MPAA can help with your production incentive programme. Learn about MPAA’s exciting new marketing and social media campaigns/initiatives.”

California is set to boost its formal filming incentive from the next fiscal year. It will increase the annual fund from USD 100 million to USD 330 million, remove the controversial lottery allocation system and extend support to big-budget movies and high-end TV dramas, which has been lacking in recent years.

The development could have a major impact on the US industry. Since 2009, big-budget features have largely relocated to rival states like Louisiana, New York and Georgia, and also internationally to places like the UK.

North Carolina has become the latest state to downgrade its filming incentive programme and will offer a grant system worth just USD 10 million a year from 2015.

(Main page image: John Latenser)