As runaway production took a toll on the U.S. in the 1990s, the country fought back by introducing its own competitive incentives. By 2010, 46 U.S. states and territories had introduced individual tax credit and rebate programs and saw an estimated $60 billion in television, movie and video production revenue. Once a year, P3 Update lists 10 states in the nation that offer the most attractive combination of tax incentives, crew base, talent pool, infrastructure, accessibility, significant production revenue and overall popularity among filmmakers.

1.    LOUISIANA

Louisiana was the first state on the scene to adopt tax incentives, which sparked a trend across America. More and more filmmakers are now heading to Louisiana where business has been booming. “I’m thinking of moving down there myself,” declares Filmmaker Ron Carr. “The state has a good film base and a lot of stages.”

The state currently offers motion-picture productions a 30-percent transferable credit on total in-state expenditures, with no cap and a minimum-spending requirement of $300,000. For productions using in-state labor, Louisiana offers an additional 5-percent labor-tax credit on the payroll of employed residents. Louisiana is currently nine to ten crews deep, a nearly 400 percent increase since 2002. “We have seen a 22-percent growth in the industry’s workforce each year,” says Louisiana Entertainment Film Director Chris Stelly. “In addition, our infrastructure continues to mature at an exponential rate and a film of any size can spend 80 to 90 percent of their budget in Louisiana. We offer basically everything a production could want or need „Ÿ from processing to trucks, as well as stages, to high-end visual effects.”

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Phot Courtesy of Flickr.com, username craig1black