From Columbia Missouri Daily Tribune

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Missourians benefit from film tax credit
Columbia Daily Tribune

Friday, January 28, 2011

Editor, the Tribune: I know these are trying times for any program in Missouri that is based on tax credits, but the two goals of the Missouri Film Commission are to attract business and to build an in-state industry. Our tax credit program is the current means by which we pursue these goals. We are asking the legislature to continue to fund this program.

Note the economic impact of Paramount’s “Up in the Air” on the urban St. Louis area and the impact of the independent film “Winter’s Bone” on rural Greene and Taney counties. These two productions alone employed more than 130 Missourians and spent more than $12 million in our state. During the months of production, they stayed in our hotels and ate in our restaurants. In the current competitive climate, these movies would not have been made here without financial incentive. In my time on the film commission, I’ve seen the motion-media potential in Missouri.

I see new video production studios and new graphics companies — good ones. Companies that can attract business from other states. I’ve seen the more than 40 professions that are affected by just one film production: electricians, caterers, drivers, musicians, carpenters, etc. These are Missourians. The film tax credit is less than 1 percent of the total tax credits given out by the state and one of the few that bring in outside money to Missouri. This isn’t about Hollywood and celebrities. It’s about jobs and building an industry for our future.

Bill Lennon, chair
Missouri Film Commission
229 Country Bluff Drive