Instead of a refund with an individual cap per project, the new program had an annual budget limit of $10 million as part of The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2014. The General Assembly passed a new program that drastically cut back incentives. The film industry took a nosedive after the old incentive program expired on Dec. Film and television studios spent more than $1 billion in the state during the same period, reports show. The state Department of Commerce offered a 25% refund on qualified spending, with a cap of $20 million.īetween 20, the state refunded more than $250 million, according to Department of Revenue reports. Marvel alone spent about $81 million to film “Iron Man III,” according to a state Department of Revenue report on film credits and grants.īetween 20, the state offered one type of incentive package to outside businesses, Caster said. Major blockbuster films can easily bring in millions of dollars in spending.
Marvel shot “Iron Man 3” in various locations across the state, including Wilmington, Raleigh and Cary in 2013. In more recent years, Lionsgate filmed “The Hunger Games” in parts of Western North Carolina and Charlotte in 2011, according to the state Department of Commerce. The state hosted some major films in the 1980s and ’90s, including “Dirty Dancing” and “Forrest Gump.” The Department of Commerce contracts the EDPNC, a nonprofit, to help recruit outside businesses and expand existing businesses in the states. The office, a division within the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, markets the state to outside film and television studios. The film industry has had its fair share of ups and downs, said Guy Caster, director of the N.C. The union alleges that studios and film production companies are making employees work unsafe and harmful hours and paying unlivable wages to the lowest-paid employees, according to an IATSE union statement. However, a national strike by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees could put a dent in that progress.
This year’s spending so far has surpassed the previous record of $377 million in 2012. “We just don’t see it slowing down,” he said.Ĭombined, the film and television studios could create more than 25,000 job opportunities for film professionals and locals, according to the N.C. The film industry in North Carolina is booming as never before, said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission. Various film and television production companies have invested a record-breaking $409 million so far this year. North Carolina’s film industry is on the cusp of a major turning point. Film and television studios could pump more than 25,000 jobs for professionals and locals in North Carolina as the industry rebounds from a slump sparked by economic downturns and legislative withdrawal of incentives to studios.