With another movie coming, why is this region becoming a more common film set?

Actor Zac Efron is preparing to start shooting scenes in the region this month for a movie about serial killer Ted Bundy titled “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” and it will be one of several projects in the past decade filmed in the region that have benefited from Ohio’s Motion Picture Tax Credit while also bringing some revenue to places like Hamilton.

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Ohio has been actively engaged with the film industry to keep the productions coming to the state and to the Butler County area.

Todd Walker of the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) said the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit was created in fiscal year 2010 to boost the film industry in Ohio.

In 2016, Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed into law a revised Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, which raised the annual incentive cap to $40 million, removed the $5 million per project cap and changed the incentive rate to a flat 30 percent on all production dollars spent in Ohio.

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Since the tax credit began, the Ohio Film Office has provided more than $52 million in tax credits to Ohio productions, which have employed more than 19,000 Ohioans and contributed nearly $205 million to Ohio’s economy according to ODSA.

Robert Redford’s “Old Man Productions Inc.” was approved for $3,381,280 in tax credits for his “Old Man and the Gun” film that shot several scenes in Hamilton in 2017.

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“That is the amount approved, not received,” Walker explained. “The total budget for the movie was submitted as $15,795,113 with $11,270,933 being eligible for the tax credit.”

Film Hamilton’s Steve Colwell said many filmmakers are comfortable coming to the area because there has been a notable track record of success when it comes to getting a production done.

“We are getting visits all of the time from producers,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they all select Hamilton as a location obviously, but at least we know they are seriously scouting us as a possible location.”


Movie tax credits

The tax credits some movies received to film in the Hamilton/Cincinnati area:

“Carol”: $2,905,301.57

“Tiger”: $701,285.73

“The Echo Effect”: $322,611.29

“Miles Ahead”: $1,927,518.54

Source: Stephanie Gostomski, Ohio Development Services Agency

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