Passage of Show Mo Act opens door for Mid-Missouri film productions
LAKE OZARK, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Show Mo Act, which provides tax incentives for entertainment projects in Missouri, passed this year and was signed into law after years of trying.
The law is a 50% tax credit up to $8 million per project. It caps the credits at $16 million a year. Similar legislation received some opposition in past years from people who say the payout would be more than the revenue the state would receive. Since it was signed into law, about five productions have shown interest in filming in Missouri, according to Film in Mo.
"I think over the years, as we saw television shows like Ozark, that's based around the like the Ozarks getting produced in Atlanta. It just kind of woke up the Missouri legislature. They realized, 'hey, there's all these Missouri based stories, Missouri based movies are getting shot elsewhere, and that's revenue that the state could have if we would just kind of make a move to pass this legislation,'" said Kyle Loethen, treasurer for Film In Mo.
Tax credits for film projects used to be in place in Missouri but expired in November 2013.
At a hearing on the Show Mo Act in January, an opponent from Americans from Prosperity said the bill serves too narrow of interest and past movie tax credits benefitted out-of-state industries too much.
"They do not get any money unless they spend that money in Missouri," Loethen said.
Independent filmmakers are already taking advantage of the tax credits, including Jefferson City-native Gina Goff, a seasoned producer. Goff is working on her 16th production, "At Niangua's End", written and directed by fellow Missourians based on a short film of the same title.
"I'm just excited to finally be returning home to make making a movie," Goff said. "I've been in L.A. a long time making movies and I always thought, you know, how could I make financial sense to film something here? And I never really could figure that out."
"At Niangua's End" is set to be filmed at the Lake of the Ozarks. Goff wants to use popular festivals and local businesses to show what she calls the true lake.
Goff's past productions have been driven by similar financial incentives.
"We were in Jackson, Mississippi, because of the tax incentives, because it was a very lucrative program," Goff said. "And I think Missouri's will be a lot like this."
The Show Mo Act also requires a certain amount of the cast and crew to be from Missouri. Goff is working with local businesses and local residents to bring in as many Missourians as possible.
"We're going after, you know, not just the obvious people that live here, that can work in the different departments on the cast and the crew, but the bigger names that we're going after, who will come in, who maybe don't live here anymore," Goff said. "There's some Missouri connection there with each of them."
"At Niangua's End" is in pre-production, but the crew hopes to start filming later this summer and into the fall.
