Legislation, lights, camera, action
This week, I presented Senate Bill 366 to the Economic Development Committee. The “Show Missouri Film and Digital Media Act” reauthorizes an expired tax credit that encourages the production of motion pictures and television programs in Missouri. Since the previous tax credit lapsed in late 2013, production companies have bypassed Missouri and taken their projects to states that offer financial inducements.
Film and TV crews spend a lot of money when they film on location. Witnesses testifying before the committee recalled the $7 million economic impact that southeast Missouri experienced when “Gone Girl,” a film starring Ben Affleck, was filmed in Cape Girardeau early in 2013. Likewise, production of “Up in the Air,” a 2009 comedic drama starring George Clooney, injected $12 million into the St. Louis area. Even “Winter’s Bone,” a low-budget film that brought actress Jennifer Lawrence national acclaim in 2010, is credited with $800,000 of spending in southwest Missouri.
This economic activity all but vanished when the Legislature did not renew Missouri’s previous film and television production tax credit. In recent years, several projects that appear to be Missouri-based were actually filmed elsewhere. Viewers watching the Netflix series “Ozark” assume they’re seeing the Lake of the Ozarks, but filming actually occurs in Georgia. HBO’s series “Sharp Objects” is set in Missouri, but also is filmed in Georgia. Not a single minute of the Oscar-winning movie “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri” was filmed in our state.
To attract future film and television projects to Missouri, SB 366 allows a tax credit equal to 25 percent of qualifying in-state expenses for film production companies when at least half of the project is filmed in Missouri. It also places a $4.5 million cap on the program.
Congratulations to Robert Wiegers
It was my honor this week to sponsor Robert Paul Wiegers’ reappointment to the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and present him to the Senate Committee on Gubernatorial Appointments. A Howard County resident, Wiegers is a professor of history at Central Methodist University in Fayette. He was first appointed to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in 1999.
The historic preservation advisory council reviews all nominations for Missouri sites seeking recognition in the National Register of Historic Places. Wiegers has written extensively on the history and architecture of Missouri. A U.S. Army veteran, much of his work has focused on military facilities and National Guard armories. In addition to his work with the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Wiegers is a member of the Fayette Main Street Association and president of the Missouri Society for Military History.
Recognition for Vietnam Veterans
I encourage all Vietnam War-era veterans to attend the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony on Thursday, April 25, at the State Capitol in Jefferson City. All U.S. military veterans who served on active duty between November 1955 and May 15, 1975 – regardless of where they served – are invited. Family members of those veterans are also welcome.
The event, jointly sponsored by the Missouri Veterans Commission and the Missouri General Assembly, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda. Veterans who call the Missouri Veterans Commission at (573) 522-4228 to RSVP their attendance prior to April 10 will receive individual recognition.
The April 25 event roughly coincides with the 50th anniversary of the departure of U.S. forces from Vietnam. The final battle of the Vietnam War is generally regarded to have been waged on May 15, 1975.
As always, I appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4302. You may also email me at denny.hoskins@senate.mo.gov.
