Eau Claire Hosts Gov. Evers on Film Tax Credits, State Film Office

Governor Tony Evers visited Micon Cinema in Eau Claire this week, highlighting the launch of Wisconsin’s film tax credit program.

The funding to bring back the film tax credits and for the creation of a new state film office under the Department of Tourism was included in the new biennial budget. Wisconsin had been one of only a handful of states without a dedicated film office prior to the change.

The biennial budget included $5 million to restart the program, hoping to increase the amount of money that production crews spend in the state while filming and support local film industry jobs.

During the visit on Thursday, Governor Evers spoke with some local residents involved in the film industry from production work to teaching. He’s hoping the tax credits will help them continue to build on their previous work to grow the film industry locally.

“There’s so many good things already going in the Eau Claire area and, you know, Stout does programming, UW-Eau Claire does programs in film,” he said. “And there’s a lot of people that like the film industry and we’re really hoping that this incentive is going to make a difference.”

The film tax credit would apply to 25 percent of income paid to Wisconsin residents and film-related expenses. Prior to its inclusion in the new biennial budget, state tourism officials said a number of producers had expressed interest in filming in Wisconsin but ultimately decided against it without the film tax credits.

State officials now hope that in addition to the revenue generated by film production, Wisconsin residents interested in the film industry won’t need to move to California for work. Governor Evers also highlighted advancements in technology that make it easier to produce films in Wisconsin than ever before.

“The cameras, everything else is pretty small now, so it’s not like you have to have this huge, huge, huge, complex to do a movie anymore,” he said. “And the technology is so, it kind of breaks a lot of barriers that existed in the past. You had to have the big place, all the acoustics had to be perfect. It’s still a thing but it’s less of a thing because of the computerization of the equipment that they’re using.”