Written by on Jan 28, 2011. Posted in Incentive News

Alaska looks to extend filming incentives as benefits could exceed USD100 million

A trio of Alaskan politicians are campaigning to extend the state’s existing filming incentives scheme beyond 2013. The current programme is only two years old but the various projects that have applied during that time could end up delivering more than USD100 million to the Alaskan economy.

State Representative Bob Herron said: “These tax credits encourage the industry to hire Alaskans and set up productions around the state. This industry provides an opportunity to leverage all that Alaska has to offer - urban and rural, cultural and scenic - to create jobs and bring investment into the state.”

Herron is among those calling for the programme to be extended by ten years at a cost of USD200 million. In previous years productions have gone out of their way to avoid an Alaskan shoot, but since the incentive scheme was launched the state has attracted Drew Barrymore vehicle Everybody Loves Whales.