Concept Research

The fate of the North Carolina Film Incentives has been a hot topic for the past year. While Governor Pat McCrory believes the film incentive needs to be cut and the state does not benefit from it, individuals linked with the film industry argue otherwise. There are many proponents of the NC film incentives; tons of support can be found in or around the Wilmington area and are invested in keeping the film community alive here- including companies such as The Production Source and the Wilmington Film Commission.

I knew about the issue of keeping or cutting the film incentive, but was not thoroughly educated on how the commission works. I decided to research the topic itself first; I found that North Carolina offers a 25% refundable tax credit for every film who "reports the qualified expenses" on their tax returns (with a max budget of $20 million) and films are permitted to film on State-owned property for free. Many types of productions qualify for the film incentive- Feature Films, Direct-to-Video, Episodic Television Series, Movies of the Week, Television Mini-Series, Reality Television, Commercials, Documentaries, Animation Productions, and Webisodes. 

It seems to me that one of the biggest issues,  should the film incentive be cut, is the thousands of men and women in the film industry who will be unemployed or have to search for jobs elsewhere. Along with finding out more information about the film incentive itself, I'd like to talk to individuals who have worked on successful films and can vouch for the program; I'd also like to discuss the topic with people who are about to or may have already moved just to make a living. 

As for receiving access to the Cucalorus/Screen Gems Oscar party, Connor and I both are acquainted with Dylan Lee, Board President for Cucalorus (and GTV manager for the City of Wilmington); I believe he will be a good contact to break ground with interviews & B-roll. Channing might be able to hook it up too :) 

Once our group meets and has a clear idea of the direction we want to go with our film, I will intently look for more specific potential locations for filming, contacts/interviewees and post it here!