If incentives go, so could films like 'Gone Girl'

The time Ben Affleck came to town will be a story told throughout Cape Girardeau for years to come.

As he and a host of other Hollywood stars traveled the city's streets filming 20th Century Fox's "Gone Girl," behind-the-scenes crew bought props and construction equipment from local stores, ate at local restaurants and recruited some locals as extras in the movie.

While the city's accommodating public and geographic features played a role in attracting the major motion picture, tax incentives offered through Missouri's Film Production Tax Credit Program might have helped seal the deal.

Since 1999, the program has offered tax credits to film productions for up to 35 percent of their in-state expenditures. Production companies are eligible for the program if they have a $100,000 in-state budget for films longer than 30 minutes or $50,000 for films shorter than 30 minutes. The program is capped at $4.5 million.

The state's Department of Economic Development recently released preliminary expenditures for "Gone Girl." The movie's total expenditures, not including payroll, equaled $2,981,228, and the total tax credits to be issued to 20th Century Fox came to $894,368. That number equaled 30 percent of the production's in-state expenses.

Rich Lynn waits for a photo op of crew members setting up equipment as a scene from the feature film 'Gone Girl' is shot inside The Bar, at the corner of Spanish and Themis streets Monday in downtown Cape Girardeau. (Laura Simon)

But if another major motion film were drawn to Cape Girardeau's historic downtown or its view of the Mississippi River, it might not receive the same treatment. The film tax credit program hit its sunset date in November, just a couple of months after "Gone Girl" personnel packed up and returned to Hollywood. It's also creeping closer to its termination date of Sept. 1.

State Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, saw the benefits the film provided for the area and sponsored legislation to renew the program.

The measure made it through the House and passed out of committee in the Senate but never made it to the floor during the legislative session that ended in mid-May.

"Due to limited amount of time, through no fault of anyone, bills get snagged, and I think that was the case with this one," Swan said.

In a previous interview with the Southeast Missourian, Swan said "Gone Girl" was an unusual opportunity for the area because it was such a large production.

The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Rosamund Pike alongside Affleck.

But it could put Cape Girardeau, and all of Southeast Missouri, on the map as future filming locations for short films, commercials and other types of smaller productions.

If the area became known for even minor filming productions, Swan said, it could attract more tourism and more businesses.

"Businesses in the film industry may come here, too," she added.

Without the tax credits, however, it's difficult to predict how many film productions and businesses will consider the state.

In the U.S., 39 states offer tax incentives for film and television productions. But Missouri isn't the only state that no longer is providing credits.

Six other states, including Indiana, Iowa and Kansas, have ended or chosen not to fund their programs.

Some states approach the idea of offering tax credits to film productions with apprehension, citing concern about the return on investment.

While Swan still is waiting for the Department of Economic Development to sift through about 30 notebooks of receipts to get a clearer view of how the "Gone Girl" production touched the local area, she said she believes its impact was a positive one.

Groups and organizations throughout the city already are preparing for a celebration when the film is released in early October, and Swan said she plans to use that information next year when she resubmits the bill for the tax credit program.

Under Swan's proposal, the eligibility requirements would stay the same for productions hoping to get tax credits, and the cap would remain at $4.5 million. The legislation would change the total percentage of credits production companies could receive from 35 to 20, a number Swan said is about average for most states.

It also requires films to indicate in the credits that filming was performed in Missouri.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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