"We've got $29 million worth of films already in the queue, so if we had stayed at $20 [million], we would've had to turn them away," Greater Cleveland Film Commission President Ivan Schwarz said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Greater Cleveland Film Commission says Gov. John Kasich's decision to raise the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit to $40 million a year will bring hundreds more jobs and green-light several productions that are already planning to come to Cleveland after the Republican National Convention hoopla dies down.
The revised Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit doubles the current $20 million cap on annual incentives, removes the $5 million cap per project, and raises the incentive rate to a flat 30 percent of production dollars spent in Ohio.
Ivan Schwarz, executive director of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, left, talks with Patty Whitcher, executive producer of the Marvel Studios/Disney film "The Avengers" on the corner of E. 9th Street and Prospect Avenue in this 2011 photo. "The changes to Ohio's incentive will help us bring thousands more jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars to the state, and is one more step toward making us more competitive with other states that are leaders in media production, like Georgia and Louisiana," said Ivan Schwarz, president of the nonprofit Greater Cleveland Film Commission.
"We originally had asked for $75 million, but $40 million is a great start. We're going to go back to them during the next budget cycle to see if we can get the additional $35 million," he added. "We really want to build this industry here and make it robust.
"We are grateful to Gov. Kasich, the Ohio House, and the Ohio Senate for giving us this opportunity to continue to grow a thriving and adaptive media industry in Northeast Ohio," Schwarz said. "I'd also like to thank Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, Rep. Kirk Schuring, and Sen. Tom Patton, who have championed this legislation, and know just how much a sustainable media industry can benefit Ohio."
The Greater Cleveland Film Commission, whose fiscal year ends on Thursday, June 30, has been counting on that money since the Ohio General Assembly approved the proposal last month. "We've got $29 million worth of films already in the queue, so if we had stayed at $20 [million], we would've had to turn them away," Schwarz said. "We ran out of money last October for the current fiscal year."
The Motion Picture Tax Credit increase follows the announcement in April that the State of Ohio awarded Cleveland State University $7.5 million for a new School of Film, Television, and Interactive Media, the first standalone school of its kind in Ohio.
On June 10, shooting for Universal's "Fast 8," directed by F. Gary Gray ("Straight Outta Compton") wrapped up after creating more than 380 jobs, booking almost 9,000 hotel room nights, and buying goods and services from more than 200 Ohio businesses over three weeks, the commission said. "Fast 8" will hit theaters on April 14, 2017.
A Cleveland State University economic impact study reported that since July 2011, the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit has created of the equivalent of 1,729 full-time jobs, over $400 million of total economic impact, and a return on investment of $2.01 (meaning that for every $1 the state spent for the initiative, $2.01 went into the state's economy).
More than 65 productions have been shot in Northeast Ohio since 2009, and 71 percent of all Ohio production dollars within the last two years were spent in Northeast Ohio.
Schwarz said residents also have become more enthusiastic about having the productions in town, and have graciously put up with the inconveniences associated with filming here.
Clevelanders won't see movie crews in town until after the Republican National Convention ends, "because there isn't a hotel room to be had," he said. "We've actually lost several projects that went to Georgia or other parts of Ohio."
Schwarz, when interviewed, was in Los Angeles meeting with the dean of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and officials at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts to help CSU build its film school, because he sees the potential for CSU's program to be the best in the Midwest.
"I feel like the climate here in Cleveland is more optimistic now," he said. "I feel like we can do anything."