WRITE YOUR LAWMAKERS, SAVE THE OHIO MOTION PICTURE TAX CREDIT!

Help us save the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit by writing your lawmakers…NOW!

We have created a new letter template for you to download and copy/paste into an email. The letter along with email addresses is below or you can click on this link to download a Microsoft Word version to make it even easier: http://bit.ly/2JBqTZr

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Let your lawmakers know how YOU will be affected if the film industry leaves Ohio.

Copy and paste the letter below into your email. Insert your own story where indicated to personalize the letter. REMEMBER, also personalize the greeting for each recipient:
contact@governor.ohio.gov– Governor Mike DeWine
laurel.dawson@governor.ohio.gov– Laurel Dawson, Chief of Staff, Governor DeWine
rep72@ohiohouse.gov– House Speaker Larry Householder
obhof@ohiosenate.gov– Senate President Larry Obhof
dolan@ohiosenate.gov– Senator Matt Dolan
rep48@ohiohouse.gov– Representative Scott Oelslager

Other Senate emails:

If you’re so inclined, you can also call. Call the Governor, Speaker of the House and President of the Ohio Senate to express your support for the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit:
Governor DeWine: 614-644-4357
Speaker Householder: 614-466-2500
Senator Obhof: 614-466-7505

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Dear Governor DeWine/Speaker Householder/Senate President Obhof/Senator Dolan/Representative Oelslager-

I am writing urgently today as a supporter of the Greater Columbus Film Commission and a supporter of the motion picture industry in Columbus and around the state. I was made aware that the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit is in jeopardy of being removed from the next Ohio budget. This concerns me as the success of the program is well documented and could negatively affect thousands of jobs across the state.

I can personally attest to the incredible impact of this program. **(Insert your story here.)**

The success of the Ohio Motion Picture Tax 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. 

This is a successful program that is putting Ohioans to work and putting hundreds of millions of dollars into their pockets right now. These aren’t just people working on movies and television shows, but also small business owners who have found a niche supporting this industry or whose businesses have found more paying customers from the growth of the industry in Ohio. We often say that producing media content is the manufacturing of the modern age, and it creates economic impact wherever it is fostered.

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 made them arguably the media 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.

With the multitude of film programs in our area including The Ohio State University, Columbus College of Art & Design, Capital University, Kenyon College, Ohio University, and others, growing this industry is a chance to grow something special in Ohio. This is a chance to stop our state from losing bright, young people and keep them engaged – and employed – with an industry that’s not only hip and exciting but expanding daily and filled with tremendous opportunity. This is also a chance to keep and bring skilled tradespeople back to Ohio to live, work, support local economies and pay state taxes.

I strongly urge you to retain the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit. To scrap the program would be a grave error that would do great damage to our economy and to so many Ohio taxpayers who either work in media production, run a business that works with the media production industry or perhaps dream of someday working in this industry right in their own backyard.

Let us continue to grow this industry and make Ohio a global production destination so that we can bring even more jobs and economic impact to our great state.

Sincerely,

Economic impact studies have been completed in Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. The three studies were completed by different institutions or firms and did not reference each other. All three studies came to the same conclusion that for every $1 that is put into the program the state reaps approximately $2 in return. To read the Columbus study click HERE. This study makes an assumption of two low-budget films shooting in Columbus.