At the Missouri Capitol, Senator Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall, is pushing a bill to overhaul the state’s film and TV production tax credits.
He noted that when the program passed in 2023, it was split into two separate buckets of money.
“$8 million for a film like James Bond that you’ll go watch the movie theater, and then $8 million for episodics, which is going to be maybe Ozark, the episodic type series. This legislation would make it just one pot of money in hopes to maybe lure a bigger type blockbuster film here to the state of Missouri.”
During the Senate committee hearing Elias Tsapelas, with the Show‑Me Institute argued the credits aren’t a good investment.
“Georgia, the state that everyone looks to for where all the productions are going, they are spending an uncapped amount, and their study showed their state return on investment was a little over 10 cents on the dollar,” said Tsapelas.
Senator Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, said she would be interested in examining the Georgia report.
“The industry studies show that there’s a $6.30 return for every dollar invested, said Washington.
According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the state authorized more than 15 million dollars in film production incentives last year, helping generate over 40 million dollars in production spending statewide.
Tsapelas was the only witness to speak against the bill, while more than a dozen supporters — including representatives from Missouri film organizations, tourism groups, business associations, arts advocates, and several industry professionals — testified in favor of it.
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