I mean, hey, it’s cheap and the people are colorful.
Sorry it’s so long…some interesting info about tax incentives for production companies and how much money gets brought into the state near the end…
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/08_09/08_05_09/fr_indy_film.html
Indie film brings big economic boost
From stunt pilots to bar scenes, movie producer weaves local people and places into scriptBy Bibeka Shrestha • Staff writer
Western North Carolina has seen its share of Hollywood productions. But unlike many of the other movies filmed here, “Road to Nowhere” features a story that is actually set in the area.
Very little had to be changed for the sake of filming, whether it was “Waynesville Police” emblazoned on cop cars that peel through one scene or the historic environs of the Balsam Mountain Inn.
“This is not North Carolina doubling for something else,” said Steven Gaydos, co-writer and producer for the film. “This is a story set in North Carolina.”
Gaydos joked that scenic backdrops here are so plentiful they could put up their fingers and frame a shot any direction they looked.
The movie began shooting in the area in early July and wrapped up in North Carolina this week. The filmmakers have shot scenes at Fontana Dam, Balsam Mountain Inn, Boyd Mountain Log Cabins in Waynesville, Doc Holliday’s bar in Maggie Valley, and the Jackson County airport in Sylva.
“Road to Nowhere” is working with a budget of under $5 million, all of which was raised privately. According to Gaydos, the rough plan is to submit it to a festival like the Sundance Film Festival or the Cannes Film Festival early next year. He hopes that the independent movie will be bought and released by fall 2010.
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Tax incentives have played a vital role in whether filmmakers come here, or go to places like Michigan, where a tax credit of a whopping 42 percent of their in-state expenditures is offered. Georgia hands out a 30 percent tax credit, while North Carolina offers half that.
In North Carolina, a motion picture must spend a minimum of $250,000 to qualify for a tax rebate. The state will then perform an audit, after which it will provide a tax credit of 15 percent on goods, services, and wages taxed by North Carolina.
Syrett said North Carolina had always been a destination for Hollywood until Canada launched aggressive financial incentives that “killed U.S. film industries.”
Louisiana reacted to that in 2003 with its own film incentive: a 25 percent tax credit. New Mexico followed along with other states after them. North Carolina was a bit late but got back into the game in 2006 with a newly-instituted tax credit.
While North Carolina doesn’t offer as much as other states, the plethora of studios and convenient infrastructure combined with the incentive makes film production here “very, very viable,” said Syrett.
According to him, motion pictures spent a little under $99 million in North Carolina in 2006. After the rebate was instituted, that number jumped 67 percent in 2007 to $161 million. With increasing competition from other states with higher tax incentives, spending decreased to $95 million by 2008.
Now, the N.C. Senate recently passed a bill to increase the state’s incentive to 25 percent. It is now awaiting approval in the House of Representatives.
While a battle of ever increasing tax incentives among states seems to loom ahead, Syrett said there has to be a limit.
“There’s a point where we have to stop, and we believe that 25 percent is a benchmark,” said Syrett. “We have to be fiscally sound. We’re not in an arms race.”
Even when one leaves competition among states aside, there’s still competition within states.
“When producers think of filmmaking in North Carolina, they think of Wilmington,” Rowell remarked. “They have studios down there, but there’s a lot of good potential out this way, too.”
So with all these options, how did Gaydos and his film wind up in Western North Carolina?
“The wonders of Google,” Gaydos said. Gaydos had his heart set on a scene with a plane crash into a dam. He typed in a search for “dam,” “lake,” and “mountains,” and there it was: Fontana Dam. ...
more at the link
