Here is more detailed information on Washington FilmWorks, from their website:

Dedicated to helping filmmakers bring their vision to the small and big screens, Washington FilmWorks (WFW) is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (6) organization that offers funding assistance to commercials, television and feature films shooting in Washington State.

Offering up to a 20% return on all qualified in-state expenditures (including Washington based labor and talent), Washington FilmWorks raises $3.5M annually to incentivize production statewide. In order to qualify for the incentive the production company must meet the following in-state spending thresholds:

• $500,000 Feature Films
• $300,000 Television
• $150,000 Commercials

WashingtonFilmWorks is now accepting applications year round.

This is the link to their site: http://www.washingtonfilmworks.org/filmmakers.html

You may also want to check out the Washington State Film Office: http://www.filmwashington.com/

North Head Lighthouse, photo courtesy Washington Film Office

There is also info available from the Seattle Film Office: http://www.cityofseattle.net/filmoffice/

It’s not Hollywood, but Spokane, Washington has a film industry that is certainly helping to spark the economic life of the city. Filmmakers in the area will often spend 85% of their budget locally, and when the budgets reach $5M dollars that can be a significant amount of money.

How does it work? As one local producer notes:

[we] wouldn’t be able to land clients without funding from WashingtonFilmWorks, a Seattle-based nonprofit that administers funds from the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program, which was created by the Washington Legislature in 2006. The funds cover up to 20 percent of production companies’ in-state expenditures, up to $1 million per project, its Web site says. WashingtonFilmWorks can collect up to $3.5 million in funds a year, which it obtains from businesses that count their contributions as a credit against their business-and-occupation tax payments.

Legislators created the competitiveness program to help the state’s film and video industry compete with other states and Canada, many of which provide some form of tax relief for film producers. In the winter of 2007, North by Northwest became the program’s first funding recipient, for its movie, “The Holidays.” Since then, the company has received assistance for five more films, including “Norman.” For those movies, it has spent roughly $7.6 million within the state, and has received nearly $2.9 million in funding assistance, according to a project summary report by WashingtonFilmWorks. One of its upcoming films, “LadyKiller,” which also will be shot here, has been approved to receive roughly $324,000 in funds.

Food, lodging, and transportation are some of the basic industries that get a lift from Spokane film companies such as North by Northwest Productions. However, other less predictable industries, such as office supply, and hardware and lumber vendors have also gotten a boost from local production.

Tax legislation in Washington, which favors filmmakers, is also a bonus. There is also a blend of rural and urban areas, and the general consensus that Spokane is in general a nice place to film, and to live in.

Read the full article at the Spokane Journal:http://www.spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article⊂=3618

Earlier this month the State of New York put the finishing touches on its new tax credit plan:

NY To Triple Tax Break For Filmmakers

The expanded tax credit comes during tough fiscal times with the hope it will bolster a business Paterson said generates billions of dollars of economic activity in New York each year.

The change will give film companies a 30 percent tax credit — up from 10 percent — for qualified production costs and extend the program from 2011 to 2013.

Here is the summary from WNBC

NY Times Square

New York’s Governor Paterson said in the official press release:

“It is vital to our state’s economy that New York remains a premier destination for film and television productions,” said Governor Paterson. “The entertainment industry plays an important role in fostering economic growth by promoting our state on movie and television screens across the world, and creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers.”

Wall St.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said: “Film and television play a major role in New York City’s place as a world-class center for culture, and the industry’s continued growth will play an important role in our efforts to diversify the economy. The expansion of the Empire State film production tax credit program is good news for New York City, and I thank Governor Paterson for signing it into effect.”