Wisconsin is one of about a dozen states that doesn’t offer a film and tv tax incentive and one of just four that doesn’t have a designated film office.
A bill introduced in the state legislature would change that.
It would create a Wisconsin Film Office and give filmmakers a 30% tax credit for making a movie or tv show in the state.
The film office acts as a kind of liaison between people wanting to make production in the state and some of the things they’ll need like locations, local crews, and any kind of permitting requirements.
The tax credit works as an incentive for people to film here.
“This has become a pretty widely embraced approach by not just states, but countries as well, in order to lure in all kinds of film production and TV production, from big Hollywood things to small indie things to commercials,” said Nathan Deming, a filmmaker based between Eau Claire and Los Angeles.
The 30% credit makes the state competitive with what neighboring states offer.
Deming says projects that are set in Wisconsin are often filmed other places, like the new SyFy show “Revival” that is set in Wausau but is filmed in Canada.
“Every script I've been handed in the past six months while touring the state and talking a bit about this film incentives, every script is set in northern Wisconsin,” said Deming. “I think it's where a lot of our imagination goes. I think it's really untapped potential in terms of cinema.”
Rhinelander-based filmmaker Nate Sheppard believes this bill has seen the interest in filmmaking grow in the Northwoods.
He recently started a filmmaking group that is already over 100 members.
Sheppard believes this bill will benefit the arts community as well as the economy.
“Even if we were to get a couple million dollar project, which is considered, I think, still a micro budget, film is expensive to make sometimes. But if you get something like that here, where people, the crew is being put up in our local hotels, they're eating at the local coffee shops. And even more important, I would love to see an increased ability for they wouldn't even have to bring in outside [crews],” said Sheppard.
The film expenditures in Illinois annually top $600 million.
The movie “Cherry Pie Christmas” was filmed in Door County recently for about $1 million with about $600,000 spent in Wisconsin over the three weeks of filming.
Rep. Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) is one of the bills’ sponsors.
“Wisconsin is one of the few states that does not have a State Film Office. Establishing one, as well as a tax credit that will incentivize film makers will help attract young entrepreneurs as well as major studios that want to bring their film projects to Wisconsin,” Swearingen said in a statement to WXPR.
Both Demming and Sheppard testified in front of the Ways and Means committee and have been encouraging people to reach out to their state lawmakers to support the bill.
