Written by on Feb 2, 2011. Posted in General Interest

US state filming incentives in flux but to what long-term impact?

The November mid-term elections in the US resulted in various gubernatorial changes across the country and with the changing of the guard come changing opinions towards state filming incentives.

New Mexico is among the highest-profile cases. New Governor Susana Martinez is thinking about slashing the existing scheme by 10%. Similar ideas are gaining support in states like Missouri and Michigan, while Arizona, Washington State, Montana, Utah and Mississippi are all proposing enhancements to their schemes.

With New Mexico having attracted major recent productions such as Thor and True Grit, and with The Avengers scheduled, is the incentive reduction likely to go ahead? If so, are we likely to see a seismic shift in US production hubs towards states that have previously had lower profiles in the filmmaking world?