The five great states of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana are becoming increasingly competitive in terms of their tax incentive programs. In addition to the scenic lakefronts of Wisconsin and Michigan to the flat farmlands of Illinois, the East North Central region offers film, commercial and television producers, and directors a wide range of reasons to shoot there. This month, we focus on these five versatile states, and the current and future state of production in the region.

MICHIGAN

 According to director of the Michigan Film Office Janet Lockwood, 2007 was “a much better year than ‘06, which was the lowest year for movies here in the 14 years I’ve been doing this.” She credits the upturn largely to the state’s new tax breaks of 20 percent. Lockwood says they, “got some high profile productions, including pieces of Doug Liman’s Jumper and Will Ferrell’s new comedy Semi Pro that both shot here in Detroit and Flint. We also had a small Grand Rapids TV series shoot here, that usually shoots in Chicago…and we had some indies.”

Lockwood predicts that feature films, “will probably exceed $4 million for 2007, and while that’s still small potatoes compared with some states, it’s over four times what we had in 2006. But we also became rapidly aware that if we didn’t bring up our incentives to Class A status, there was no sense in seriously pursuing the business.” To this end, Governor Jennifer Granholm has been especially aggressive, stating recently that she’d like Michigan to have the “best incentives in America.” Adds Lockwood, “It may be tough to beat New Mexico, but I’m with her and we’re now working to improve our program in many ways, including a higher percentage, a workforce development and a training program.”

Currently, to qualify for Michigan filming incentives, productions must spend at least $200,000 in Michigan to be eligible and there’s a graduated scale for credit: from $200,000 to $1 million, a production company receives up to 12 percent refund, from $1,001 million to $5 million, a company receives up to 16 percent refund, from $5,001 million to $10 million, a production company receives up to 20 percent refund and there is a $2 million cap per production.

 “I’m hoping that the $200,000 threshold will drop to at least $100,000, if not lower, and I’m expecting all the caps to disappear,” says Lockwood. “In fact, our wish list that’s being written up right now is: 35 percent cash incentives with no caps, and perhaps even a $50,000 threshold. That’s what the Governor’s proposing and I think it’ll be a reality by the time people read this. And that should catapult us to the top again. Louisiana also gives 35 percent, but it’s in 25 and 10 and is a tax credit, while this will be cash. So it’s a very big deal, and we seem to have great bipartisan support. I’ve already told them – pass this and you’d also better find funds for more staff.”