Wisconsin is currently one of only five states without a film office and one of ten without any production inducements. A bill now under consideration would change that.
The proposed legislation would establish a Wisconsin film office and tax incentives for film and television production in the state.
The bill is authored by Reps. David Armstrong (R – Rice Lake) and Calvin Callahan (R – Tomahawk) and Sen. Julian Bradley (R – Franklin). An additional fifteen legislators from both parties have signed on to co-sponsor the bill.
Action! Wisconsin, a statewide coalition of filmmakers, producers, industry business partners and proponents of film and television projects in Wisconsin, is emphatically backing the bill, which the group said would help position Wisconsin as a competitive location for film and television shoots. Action! Wisconsin operates under Imagine MKE, a nonprofit arts advocacy and organization.
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“This bill could be a game changer for the many creatives who work within the film industry in Wisconsin and in related fields like hospitality,” Imagine MKE Executive Director Adam Braatz told Milwaukee Magazine this week. “Beyond the talent that is here, as Wisconsinites we are all well aware that our state offers incredible assets to prospective film productions, including diverse natural spaces and a wide range of urban, suburban and rural settings – attractive to both external production companies and those based right here in Wisconsin.”
If enacted, the bill would allow Wisconsin to tap into the thriving entertainment production market, while spotlighting Wisconsin’s assets to boost tourism, attract and retain businesses and skilled labor, and stimulate the economy, proponents said.
“I would love to shoot in Wisconsin, but the first question that arises at the start of any discussion as to where to shoot, is do they have incentives?” writer and director Scott Frank said in a statement issued by Action! Wisconsin. Frank wrote and directed The Queens Gambit and wrote the screenplay for Minority Report.
“These initiatives allow filmmakers to create stories in a variety of different locations. The incentives also help to free up more money for more shooting days, which in turn creates more income for the state offering them,” Frank said. “Now is the perfect time (for incentives), as filmmakers are increasingly frustrated shooting in the same places over and over again. And a film production brings a lot of income into any community where they film.”
Wisconsin’s topography and climate offer unique, diverse and appealing settings for filmmakers, according to supporters.
“You can drive from urban to rural locations in 30 minutes,” Wisconsin-based producer and educator Jeff Kurz said. “You can’t do that in New York. You can’t do that in Los Angeles or Atlanta. The variety of locations in Wisconsin is only part of what makes the state so valuable.”
At the Creative Economy Forum, a gathering in November organized by Imagine MKE to discuss opportunities to harness the power of Milwaukee’s cultural and creative assets, Braatz noted that that a push is being made for tax incentives to entice film and television production to Wisconsin.
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He pointed out that when filming takes place in a state, production crews often hire from the local market, rent spaces for their work and pay to secure lodging, as well as bring attention to what they are doing.
Other states in the Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota, currently invest in their states’ film, television and advertising industries, and as a result are attracting outside investment by offering state production incentives, Action! Wisconsin leaders said.
Film and television production incentives have yielded considerable benefits in other states across the country.
A 2023 study by the Georgia Screen Entertainment Commission found that for every $1 invested in film and television incentives in the state yielded $6.30 of economic benefit. In Montana, a recent study found that the production of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone generated 2.1 million new visitors, $730 million in local economic activity, more than 10,000 jobs and nearly $45 million in state tax revenue as a direct result of the state’s film incentives program.
To ensure that revenue generated in Wisconsin stays in the state, the bill includes minimum spending requirements to guarantee that a portion of the production budget is reinvested within Wisconsin. This spending stipulation will ensure that productions will meaningfully engage with local industries such as hospitality, transportation, construction, catering, and more, proponents said.
Braatz said that although he doesn’t expect a vote on the bill to happen in the near future, there’s now an opportunity to coalesce support for it from across the state.
“The engine of government moves slowly, but I would like to encourage those interested in seeing a film office and film tax incentives established to continue to raise their voices and spread the word in support of these important measures,” he said.
Supporters of the measure can go to advocacy.charityengine.net.
