House Speaker Bobby Harrell, members of the S.C. House, representatives from the State and local Chambers of Commerce, and members of the film community all gathered to announce legislation will return our state's competitive edge in the film industry.

In 2005, the General Assembly passed a film incentive package that made S.C. a top contender for film production in today's ever expanding film industry. The result was maximum capacity production with nine feature films, a television series, and a television pilot.

However, in June of 2007, the State Department of Commerce changed our film incentives and the original intent of the law the Legislature passed. The result was immediate, no new movies in 2007, only one new television pilot, and S.C. was barely able to hang onto the one television series.

"The film industry is one of the most mobile, footloose industries around today," Speaker Harrell said. "With these changes, we can regain our competitive edge in an industry where tax incentives make or break deals. Right now other states are benefiting from our loss."

Included in the press event, the University of South Carolina's Business School announced the results of an in- depth study on the economic impact of seven films recently shot on location in S.C.

Their study found that even though S.C. is in its beginning stages of developing a film industry and "despite having no permanent infrastructure" that "film production has had a positive economic impact on S.C."

The study concluded that for every $1 spent on wage rebates, it generated a total income effect of $1.30 for our state. And that for every $1 spent on supplier rebates, it generated a total income effect of $3.68 for S.C.

Considering just the direct wage and supplier economic impact on S.C.'s citizens and businesses, these seven film projects generated over $25 million of economic activity for our state's economy.

The study concluded "the impact would likely be larger if more films were attracted to the state." And the study lets us know our original film incentive package was a step in the right direction in growing this industry by stating, "Incentives can play a role in helping to seed the industry in alternative locations."

Currently, there is only one major movie in production in our state. The New Daughter stars Kevin Costner and is produced by Gold Circle Films. A company that has produced

25 films including, My Big Fat

Greek Wedding,White Noise, and The

Wedding Date.

Paul Brooks, CEO and President of Gold Circle Films, said, "We came to this state for the great locations and the crew. However, we found in South Carolina the incentives could be better, and if they were better, we know more productions would follow."

The legislation proposed will reinstate many of the original incentives and enhance others.

Speaker Harrell said, "Our goal is to, once again, make South Carolina a top competitor in the film industry. We need to maximize the potential this industry offers and return to a max capacity production goal."

To further encourage the hiring of South Carolinians, the bill expands wage rebates for residents from 20 percent to 30 percent. Also, it creates an apprenticeship program that will help citizens gain valuable experience and access to future involvement in this industry.

Speaker Harrell added, "These incentives will not only cause films to locate to our state, but will also encourage film related businesses to locate here and add to our film infrastructure."

The 10 major film productions attracted to S.C. with the original incentives have had a huge impact on local economies around our state. They have generated millions of dollars in revenue and created over 7,100 jobs. In lodging alone, these projects charged a total of 40,781 hotel room nights and rented multiple houses for 6,050 nights.