The movie "Gone Girl" put Missouri in the cinema spotlight. But the state might not be able to attract other major motion picture companies with the end of the film production tax incentive program.
The program, offered by the Department of Economic Development, began in 1999. Since the program expired last November, Missourians have been concerned that the expiration will prevent revenue and publicity for the state of Missouri.
Film production companies that qualified could earn a credit up to 35% of the expended amount.
Twentieth Century Fox spent almost 8 million dollars during the making of "Gone Girl" in Cape Girardeau and received a return of 2.3 million dollars from the state.
President of the board for the Greater Kansas City Film Commission Heather Laird is passionate about restarting the tax program for the long-term benefit of Missouri and its communities.
"As long as we don’t offer the tax incentive, we will not get any of the larger feature films, period," said Laird.
Laird relocated to Missouri from Los Angeles where they once offered a tax incentive and had at least three major movies filmed a year. Laird says that once that program ended, the city no longer saw that potential revenue.
"The entertainment industry is big business and if you don’t give them a reason to come and spend their money in your state, they won't come," said Laird. "It's millions and millions and millions of dollars and it's jobs and hotel rooms and restaurants and other goods and services that would be sold to the companies coming in from out of town but it doesn’t happen because they go to some other city."
State representative Kathryn Swan of Cape Girardeau is planning on filing a bill at the end of this year in order to restart the tax program.
"We receive all the money upfront and we give a tax credit or a percentage of the state qualifying expenses that the state calculates. We are receiving that extra billing or profit up front before we even lay out any investment," said Swan. "It was a big economic boom to Cape Girardeau, one which we will continue to appreciate, being a tourism spot for people being quite anxious and interested to see where the film was made."
Major motion pictures filmed within Missouri include James Cameron's "The Abyss," 2009's "Up in the Air" starring George Clooney and the 2010 film "Winter's Bone" with Jennifer Lawrence.
Over the course of 15 years, the incentive program has generated 18 million dollars in credit and even more in revenue for the state.