By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Missouri lawmakers have brought back a tax credit that they let lapse in 2013 to help incentivize filmmakers to bring their projects to the state.
The Missouri film tax credit gives filmmakers tax breaks for using local talent in both their projects and on production of those films.
St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau spokesperson Christian Mengel says Georgia really set the standard in these tax breaks used to sprout a major film industry
“Because it was so cheap in those days, it’s not now, but when they brought that back it was so cheap to go there that you could just buy property, buy land, and it would be cheaper than renting studio time in LA,” Mengel tells host of the KFEQ Hotline Barry Birr.
The last major film to be made in Missouri was Gone Girl filmed in Cape Girardeau.
Mengel says even with money in the film industry, filmmakers should still be drawn to come to Missouri.
“They only make money if they can find a way to cut costs, and the best way to cut costs is getting out of LA honestly, and a lot of them realize that” Mengel explains. “Because you rent that studio time and your numbers just skyrocket, and then you find out oh Missouri I can just buy something as a studio out there and it’s cheaper than renting here.”
Mengel says there is blossoming potential for the industry here in St. Joseph, with many people already filming and producing projects in the city.
In fact, Mengel says there are already film projects happening here consistently.
“It might not be the big Hollywood productions that are coming here, but we have a solid cast of local film talent and filmmakers that are here, at least in the region, and realize how much potential there is to shoot here,” Mengel points out. “We have so many architecture structures, parks, everything that you need to make a good film, almost no matter what your genre is.”
For example, filmmaker Jason Hudson has filmed two movies in St. Joseph with ‘Christmas at the Chateau’ and Accidental Family.
Lawmakers brought back the incentive after seeing the Netflix show Ozark, which is based in Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, was filmed in Georgia.
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