Montgomery, Ala. — Television producers can now receive financial incentives as high as 35 percent for filming a television series in Alabama, says State Film Office Manager Kathy Faulk.
 

     The new law allows a TV series to be considered as one aggregated project in a 12-month period to qualify for refundable tax credits, she said. Alabama now has one of the most aggressive film legislative incentivespackages in the country, which makes the state more competitive.

The Alabama Film Incentives Advantage includes the following:

• A qualified production company is entitled to a 25% refundable tax credit for all production expenditures in Alabama. Payroll wages to residents of Alabama earn 35%.
• A qualified production company’s expenditures must equal or exceed $500,000 per project and not exceed $10 million dollars. The annual cap granted to the state for incentives is $10 million dollars.
• A qualified production company spending at least $150,000 within a 12-month period may apply for a certificate of exemption from state sales, use and lodging tax.
• A 25% refundable tax credit for qualified production of a music video, provided that the production expenditures must equal or exceed $50,000 and do not exceed $200,000.
• A 25% refundable tax credit for a soundtrack production used in a motion picture, provided that the production expenditures must equal or exceed $50,000 and do not exceed $300,000.

         To spur film production, another state agency has launched a workforce development training program. A production and crew skills program operated by the Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT), which traditionally has focused on manufacturing, will be available at no cost to trainees, says Ed Castile.

    The legislation proposed by the film office was approved without dissent and signed by Gov. Robert Bentley, Faulk said.

   In a related development, the new dating series “Sweet Home Alabama” filmed on beautiful Mobile Bay and in and around Fairhope premieres July 14th on the CMT network.

To register for a pre-qualifying application for incentivesor additional information regarding all the advantages of filming in Alabama, please contact:

Alabama Film Office
334.242.4195
www.alabamafilm.org.