'Regional filmmakers prosper from tax breaks'
April 26, 2013 12:30 pm •
Few filmmakers are born in Hollywood and most movies are set elsewhere, so shooting on location can be an artistic necessity. And with the advent of low-cost video cameras and tax incentives from film-friendly locales, it has become an economic possibility.
Although Missouri hosted best picture Oscar nominees in two consecutive years — “Up in the Air” in 2009 and “Winter’s Bone” in 2010 — the Show-Me state’s film office is a now a bare-bones operation. As the producers of the planned St. Louis-set thriller “A Fall from Grace” are learning, the Missouri Department of Economic Development doesn’t have as much tax-break money to offer visiting filmmakers as states such as neighboring Illinois and down-river Louisiana.
After being offered about $640,00 in incentives to offset $7 million in planned expenditures here, director Jennifer Lynch is now hedging her bets, negotiating with Metro East officials and traveling to the Cannes Film Festival next month to see if international filming and finance options are available.
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