The Tulsa Regional Chamber is urging lawmakers not to let a state film tax credit sunset in 2024.
An incentive evaluation committee made that recommendation for the incentive. VisitTulsa President Ray Hoyt said that's a mistake.
"One, it's just two years old. We haven't had the opportunity to really start to rebuild that industry and to incubate it back in Oklahoma, and it takes time to get back to those producers and directors and make them more aware of what Tulsa and Oklahoma has for film sites," Hoyt said.
Tulsa Office of Film, Music Arts and Culture Director Abby Kurin said they’ve hosted two feature films here in the past two months.
"Utilizing our locations as well as our crew, which is a big deal. It's a big deal to our industry as we're working to develop and grow, provide more resources. To lose this incentive would be, really, catastrophic to that development," Kurin said.
One of those films was "Starbright," which shot at Philbrook.
Tulsa Regional Chamber Interim Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Elizabeth Osburn said the state film office has projected 1,800 Oklahoma jobs tied to the tax credit for the current fiscal year, and movie production spawns other industries.
"Such as equipment, equipment rentals, equipment storage, facilities that need to be rented — this is high-tech special equipment, and so there's an industry within itself there as well," Osburn said.
Oklahoma’s film tax credit offers a 35 percent cash rebate. It’s boosted to 37 percent if a production spends at least $20,000 on music recorded in Oklahoma.
The incentive is capped at $5 million a year.
