Both houses of the Illinois legislature have overwhelmingly passed a significant increase in the state’s filming incentives program, establishing a 30 percent tax credit on total production spending in the state for qualified theatrical features, TV programs, commercials and ad-related projects.
Initially Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D-IL) was expected to sign the measure into law. However he was arrested last week on federal corruption charges. Still, the measure is guaranteed to be enacted by no later than January 20, 2009–with or without the governor’s signature That’s because the incentives package is veto proof, having passed by votes of 52 to 0 in the Illinois Senate and 108 to 2 in the state’s House of Representatives.
A major impetus for the passage of the new incentives was the increased competition for filming business, particularly from nearby Michigan and Wisconsin. The former has a 40 percent tax credit for features and TV (not commercials) while Wisconsin has a 25 percent credit in place spanning features, TV and spots.
Thus Illinois saw a compelling need to up its 20 percent tax credit to 30 percent, primarily to help attract more feature and TV work. Commercialmaking in turn benefitted from this as production houses, ad agencies and/or clients will be able to tap into an increased tax credit for Illinois shoots.
“This makes filming in Illinois even more attractive, enabling commercial producers to be more competitive, to offer more bang for the buck in the face of challenged budgets,” said Mark Androw, executive producer of Chicago-headquartered Story, a production house which also has offices in New York and Los Angeles. A former AICP national chairman, Androw said that Story has taken advantage of the 20 percent tax credit and is enthused over future prospects with a 30 percent tax credit set to take hold.
“In recent years, we’ve been able to more competitively bid projects that shoot in the state and it’s helped us to get business,” he related, conjecturing that this dynamic should continue and perhaps flourish with an even sweeter incentive about to go into effect.
At the same time, Androw noted that an increase in feature and TV activity in Illinois as a result of the incentives also benefits the ad community, serving as a catalyst for growth in the state’s infrastructure in terms of production resources and talent.
To qualify for the new incentive, in-state spending must exceed $50,000 for a commercial. That’s the same minimum threshold that was needed to qualify for the 20 percent tax credit. Androw added that producers also have to demonstrate that if not for the incentive, a project would have likely gone somewhere else for production. And there is a diversity prerequisite whereby producers must commit to having a representative portion of the crew consist of minorities. Generally the formula is for such representation to be commensurate with Illinois’ population, meaning around 20 percent of workers on a production should be from minority groups.
Androw noted that Story and other companies as well as different segments of the Illinois filmmaking community have made a concerted effort to train minorities for crew positions and that these endeavors have helped to make for a more diverse workforce. Androw added that organized labor played a major role in lobbying state legislators for the passage of the new incentives package.
Besides increasing the tax credit, the new measure eliminated the sunset clause which had the industry typically waiting for incentives to get renewed from one year to the next. This often put filming on hold annually for an extended period after the incentive would expire on Dec. 31. Now filmmaking can go forward in Illinois without such a lull.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic 3” Rule Box Office For 1st Weekend Of 2025
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.
The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn't far behind.
"Sonic 3" stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. "Mufasa's" running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.
In third place, Focus Features' "Nosferatu" remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. "Nosferatu," which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).
No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, "Moana 2," claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.
The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in... Read More