Oklahoma’s Film Incentives Fuel $161.3M Growth

As seen on The Journal Record.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Spending on film and TV production in Oklahoma has grown $161.3 million annually since the state raised its annual cash rebate budget from $8 million to $30 million in 2021.

That moved Oklahoma’s incentive program from 26th to 18th largest in the U.S., according to a new study by RegionTrack Inc., an Oklahoma City-based economic research firm.

“It’s just a completely different set of circumstance 2021 to 2025,” RegionTrack President Mark Snead said Wednesday.

The number of industry firms and the employment base both grew roughly 50% and total wages paid in the industry more than doubled, Snead said.

“For us, the average wage paid per job is probably the best measure of the overall quality of the jobs. And the average wage increased about two-thirds, pushing it to $80,000 per job,” he said.

Snead and Joseph Chianese, Senior Vice President and Production Incentives Practice Leader at Entertainment Partners in Los Angeles, spoke about Oklahoma’s place in the industry marketplace during a forum hosted by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.

Jill Simpson, executive director of the Oklahoma Film & Creative Industries Office, led the discussion. Simpson noted that in addition to the Oklahoma Film and Music Office 20% to 30% cash rebate, local governments – including the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma City and some small communities – offer their own incentives.

“Oklahoma has a very competitive program,” Chianese said, “and the fact that you have all these local incentives you can stack on top of it can only help.”

He said the state must keep the incentives going and continue to build the industry’s in-state infrastructure and labor base.

“Right now, there are 41 states with incentives but over 160 countries with incentives … The reality is producers have choices,” Chianese said. “Very similar to the auto industry, we’re losing jobs (to other countries).”

Simpson said at $30 million, the industry is having a hard time sustaining production over 12 months.

“When we don’t have enough money for productions to be here all the time going back to back to back, in the downtime people don’t have a job and at that point they’re having to go out of state to find it,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important that we continue to grow this.”

At the same time, it will be a tough year to get more money for incentives at the Legislature, Simpson said.

“You’re not going to build a permanent industry unless you have a larger incentive,” Snead said.

He said the debate always is do incentives create good-quality jobs or are they a waste of money?  Looking at it solely through an economic lens is “a very poor way to evaluate this industry and any other incentive.”

When you break this down to simply a tax-recovery argument you miss the other benefits that come from it, many which are intangible, Snead said.

Chianese said a larger incentive budget would help attract TV productions. Producers usually want enough money to subsidize not just one season but multiple seasons, he said.

President Donald Trump has referenced a couple of times a 10% to 15% federal labor credit on top of what the states offer, Chianese said.

“It would be a gamer changer. I think we’d see a lot more productions stay in the U.S. They want to stay in the U.S. but costs here, especially labor costs, are much more expensive compared to outside the U.S.,” he said.

Simpson noted that Oklahoma City’s $1 million film rebate for the movie “Twisters” saw a return of more than $60 million. The project incentivized work not just in the city but also in El Reno, Chickasha, Midwest City and Spencer.

“The goal of these programs, if they’re working as they should, is not just helping Oklahoma City,” she said. “Ideally they are incentivizing the region.”

Chianese stressed the importance of good local stories to grow the industry in Oklahoma.

“Incentives, infrastructure, crew are the three things financially that producers are looking at, but I think also everyone’s looking for local stories that will have a global appeal, like ‘Reservation Dogs.’”