The artists who make film and television often find themselves attracted to pursue their vision in Virginia, particularly when the subject matter springs from events that took place here. But too often the commonwealth misses out on these opportunities because other states offer more robust incentives to attract productions.
Even a modest increase in those benefits would help boost Virginia’s competitiveness, and the return on investment, though not guaranteed in the fickle world of entertainment, can be substantial, making it an attractive area of opportunity that state officials should pursue.
Local audiences swelled with civic pride at the success of the 2017 film “Hidden Figures,” recounting the remarkable lives of three Black women whose math and engineering acumen were instrumental to the success of the space program.
Hidden Figures is set in Hampton, primarily at NASA Langley Research Center, but the film itself was shot in Georgia, not Virginia, owing to that state’s superior incentives for film and TV production, which totaled about $300 million that year.
The movie cost $25 million to make and grossed $236 million worldwide. But for Georgia, it marked the start of a new era: That year the Peach State was home to the largest number of productions in the country, surpassing even California. TV and film work generated $9.5 billion for the state that year.
For the producers of Hidden Figures, though, not filming in Virginia was a disappointment. They couldn’t ignore the bottom line and weren’t willing to take a massive financial hit to film in the commonwealth, but they would have preferred to shoot the film amid the landscape where events transpired.
One producer on the film was particularly moved: Pharrell Williams.
“As I stood on set among all of this positivity and productive energy, I asked myself: Why were we telling a Hampton Roads story in Atlanta?” he told The Virginian-Pilot in 2018.
The Virginia Beach native began formulating an idea for a film and sound stage campus in Virginia to lure more productions to the commonwealth. He also encouraged lawmakers to expand the state’s film and TV incentive programs to make it more competitive with other states.
Neither of those came to pass, and that is to Virginia’s detriment.
Consider that Georgia now offers a total of $1.2 billion in incentives and generates about $4 billion annually as a result. Nearly 60,000 people there work in the film industry. Our neighbor to the south, North Carolina, has a far smaller program, totaling $31 million in available incentives each year, which generates about $250 million and is responsible for 16,000 jobs.
In comparison, Virginia’s annual film incentives program is capped at $11.5 million, money that helps support about 5,000 jobs and generates $126 million in tax revenue. There are grants and other supplements available, but it’s a far cry from what other states offer.
That’s not to say that Virginia should follow Georgia’s path and set aside a billion dollars to pay millionaires to shoot their movies here. But raising the total incentives to bring the commonwealth more in line with other states makes sense. A competitive offer along with Virginia’s dynamic landscape — from the mountains to the coast and everything in between — should be enough to make this a coveted destination for the Hollywood set.
Lawmakers this year considered raising the cap to nearly $50 million, including a provision that would reduce the cap to $10 million if certain revenue benchmarks aren’t met, but it failed to gain traction. It’s worth another shot when the legislature convenes again in January.
In the meantime, Williams is putting his money where his heart is. A movie musical about his upbringing in Hampton Roads will begin filming in Richmond and Virginia Beach, and he turned down a better offer from Georgia to do so.
Virginia won’t always be so lucky, and should raise the cap on film incentives to bring more jobs and revenue to the commonwealth.
