(This article comes courtesy of MissouriNet.)
At the Missouri Capitol, Sen. Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall, is pushing a bill that would overhaul the state’s film and TV production tax credits.
During a Senate committee hearing, he noted that when the program passed in 2023, it was split into two separate buckets of money.
“$8 million for a film like James Bond that you’ll go watch the movie theater, and then $8 million for episodics, which is going to be maybe Ozark, the episodic type series. This legislation would make it just one pot of money in hopes to maybe lure a bigger type blockbuster film here to the state of Missouri.”
During the hearing, Elias Tsapelas, with the Show Me Institute, argued the credits aren’t a good investment.
“Georgia, the state that everyone looks to for where all the productions are going, they are spending an uncapped amount, and their study showed their state return on investment was a little over 10 cents on the dollar,” said Tsapelas.
Sen. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, said she would be interested in examining the Georgia report.
“The industry studies show that there’s a $6.30 return for every dollar invested,” said Washington.
According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the state authorized more than $15 million in film production incentives last year, helping to generate over $40 million in production spending statewide.
Tsapelas was the only witness to speak against the bill, while more than a dozen supporters — including representatives from Missouri film organizations, tourism groups, business associations, arts advocates, and several industry professionals — testified in favor of it.
The Missouri Senate Economic and Workforce Development Committee could soon vote on Gregory’s bill.
For more information about Senate Bill 1079, click here.
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