Write Our Governor in Support of Expanding the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit
Recent efforts are ramping up to expand the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit. We have spoken with other film commissions around Ohio and all of us agree that in order to continue to grow the industry the credit needs to be expanded.
Thank you for your continued support!
You can copy/paste the letter below into an email and send to the following email addresses. Please copy Executive Director of Film Columbus to help us keep track of how many letters are sent.
mike.dewine@governor.ohio.gov
laurel.dawson@governor.ohio.gov
rep72@ohiohouse.gov
obhof@ohiosenate.gov
john@filmcolumbus.com
Copy/paste:
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The Honorable Mike DeWine
Governor of Ohio
Riffle Center, 30thFloor
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Dear Governor DeWine:
I write to you as a supporter of the Greater Columbus Film Commission, the only nonprofit dedicated to bringing jobs and economic development to central Ohio through the growth of a sustainable, year-round production industry. It is vital that the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit be increased to an annual cap of $100 million so our state can take advantage of the hundreds of millions of dollars in production spending and tens of thousands of jobs that are quite literally ours for the taking.
When the credit renewed last summer, it took barely a month to hit the $40 million cap. Filmmakers want to film here and put Ohioans to work, but instead take their business to states like Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Georgia due to their more available, more robust incentive programs.
In 2008, Georgia passed a motion picture tax incentive that transformed their economy to the tune of $9.5 billion of economic impact in 2017 alone, and to the point where they are arguably the film-production capital of the world. New Mexico has seen similar success with their incentive. Netflix recently bought Albuquerque Studios and plans to invest over $1 billion in the state by driving production there.
The success Ohio has seen, even with the current limitations of the credit, is real and demonstrable. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) recently reported that nearly 35,500 people are directly and indirectly (hotels, caterers, carpenters, dry cleaners, etc.) employed by the motion picture and television industries in Ohio, with total wages earned exceeding $1.2 billion.
The full potential of the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit has yet to be fully realized. Georgia has signaled to Hollywood that they are open for business and that no production will be turned away for lack of state funds or infrastructure. Raising Ohio’s incentive cap to $100 million will tell the world that we can sustain a year-round production industry, allowing stakeholders (who are ready and willing) to invest in production infrastructure like studios and soundstages that will ensure that we can compete for the biggest productions available (including television series) and employ an even greater number of Ohioans.
This is a successful program that is already putting billions into the pockets of Ohioans right now, and it could be doing so much more. I ask you to please raise the annual cap on the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit to $100 million per year, so that we can become the global production destination Hollywood already knows we can be.
Sincerely,
