Correction: A previous version of this story indicated that California's lottery system has driven film production to other states; however, the film tax credit lottery ended in 2015.
An increasing number of films are being shot in Northeast Ohio, but local film industry advocates say the state needs to expand its tax credit program or risk losing future productions and the economic benefits that come with them.
鈥淚n the last year-and-a-half, we鈥檝e lost well over a billion dollars of direct spend in Cleveland," says Ivan Schwarz, CEO of the. 鈥淭hese aren鈥檛 movies that have come here to scout, and we鈥檝e put them down as 鈥榣ost鈥� because they chose someplace else. These are people we鈥檝e had relationships with that want to come here. And I think we鈥檝e just lost another big one that really wanted to come here because our cap is low.鈥� Ohio's cap for a tax credit is $5 million per production. Overall, the state gives away a total of $20 million in credits each year to get filmmakers to shoot in Ohio.
in thewould expand that to at least $75 million.Going Public
is an analyst with The Buckeye Institute, a public policy think-tank based in Columbus. He says the industry should be funded by private money, not public. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a sugar high because it creates very temporary boost, maybe, to the local economy at best. But most of the folks who come in and do these film aren鈥檛 usually from the state. And it goes away very quickly. ... If you look at things from groups like the non-partisan Tax Foundation, they rarely pay for themselves. We think that the way to prosperity is to have real big and fundamental tax reforms so that it鈥檚 competitive for everybody.鈥�
But the Cleveland Film Commission believes expanding the credit will attract productions and a permanent base ofcrew members.has produced dozens of films, including the first two 鈥淗unger Games鈥� movies and, most recently, 鈥淭he Big Short.鈥� She鈥檚 worked all over the country, but never in Ohio. 鈥淕eorgia was one of the first places to install a tax c