Oregon Film Incentive Program Passes

 

Thanks in part to an intense lobbying effort by OMPA membership and other state trade associations, Oregon's legislature has passed and the Governor has signed into law a bill creating a new incentive plan for film production. SB2747 was approved in the legislature's last days. It creates the Oregon Production Investment Fund, and authorizes the State to give productions cash rebates of 10% of their spending in Oregon, with a rebate cap of $250,000 per movie or $30,000 per episode for a television series. A production needs to spend $1 million in Oregon to qualify.

Governor Ted Kulongoski said, "I'm very pleased with the passage of this bill. This demonstrates Oregon's commitment to creating incentives to grow our film industry, and our recognition that this industry is important to Oregon's economy."

Money will be generated for the fund by offering tax credits against Oregon tax liability to people or businesses that contribute to the fund. Implementation is set for January 2005, with the first rebates possible in July 2005.

In the meantime the Governor is open to continue offering production spending rebates from the State's Strategic Reserve Fund on a case by case basis. This is the type of grant that was most recently used to recruit the "Thumbsucker" (starring Keanu Reeves) to Oregon, and brought "The Dust Factory" here last year-each of those films received 10% back on their first $1 million of spending. "Combined with the fact that we have no sales tax in Oregon, this program will present real cost savings to productions and make us competitive with other markets. We're very excited about what this means for our industry," said Veronica Rinard, Oregon Film & Video Office executive director.

Oregon's film and video industry generates approximately $475 Million in direct economic output per year, and creates nearly 5,000 full time equivalent positions. Recent productions have included "Thumbsucker," an independent feature from This is That, Inc., Bulls Eye Entertainment and Cinema Go-Go, Whitewater Films' "Mean Creek," and "Indigo," produced by Stephen Simon and Emissary Productions.