Arkansas filmmakers lobbying for more state incentives have launched a campaign to turn the state into a top contender for film and television projects, the Arkansas Cinema Society announced Tuesday.
The campaign, Film in Arkansas, hopes to capitalize on the success of Arkansas-made projects over the past 15 years, including “True Detective,” “Mud” and “What Happens Later.”
The state offers film incentives to filmmakers on a project-by-project basis, but rebate funding has never been appropriated by the General Assembly, and legislatively funded tax credits are capped at $4 million.
Zak Heald, the owner of Bentonville Studio, told Arkansas Business in February that states like Oklahoma have seen productions boom since increasing incentives. He helped organize Film in Arkansas to spotlight the economic benefits he believes the state could seize by following Oklahoma’s example.
Oklahoma, he said, invests $30 million each year in film incentives, up from $8 million in 2021. Heald said the incentives helped Oklahoma attract Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and cultivate “homegrown successes” like “Reservation Dogs,” a streaming success on Hulu.
Heald cites studies that show that in the three years after Oklahoma increased its incentives, the film industry injected $411 million into the state’s economy, including $177 million in wages to film industry workers.
The push for more incentives in Arkansas includes a new website and a video featuring residents and former Arkansans determined to make more movies here.
“We know incentives are a good investment,” Heald said. “Every other state that’s tried it sees that they’re a good investment. There’s no reason it wouldn’t be here.”
In announcing the new campaign, the Cinema Society noted that data from New Mexico suggests that each dollar the state spent on film incentives brought $8.40 in value to the state economy.
“To date, the ‘Filmed in Oklahoma Act’ has paid out $78 million in incentives between FY 2022 and FY 2024, while projects generated $344 million in-state direct spend on qualified expenditures,” the society said in announcing the campaign. “That’s a 4.4:1 ROI, and that only includes the direct impact without considering the downstream economic impacts of film productions and crews staying in local hotels and shopping and eating local.”
A study by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock similarly found that $1 million in film incentive spending generates $4.06 million in economic activity. It also found that the third season of HBO’s “True Detective,” which was filmed in northwest Arkansas, had an economic impact of about $100 million.
“Filmmaking means business — plain and simple,” said Brandon Goldsmith of Fort Smith, the Cinema Society’s director of advocacy. “All of our neighbors — Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri and Louisiana — are going big on film right now. They recognize the direct economic impact it creates for their states. Incentives are not handouts to Hollywood; they are actually the opposite, as they compel Hollywood to invest in creating jobs for Arkansans right here in Arkansas.”
He said that when film companies shoot in Arkansas, “they hire local crew, stay in local hotels and lodging, eat at local restaurants, buy goods at local stores.” The effects add up, Goldsmith said. “Arkansas has had some success, but we will be left behind if we don’t grow our film incentives to be competitive regionally. Many of our state legislators recognize this.”
Zeald said he’s seen firsthand what state support can mean for small businesses like his studio. “We love to work in-state, but recently, the opportunities have been drying up as Arkansas becomes less competitive with incentives for filmmaking. I am proud to see our community of crew, producers and other filmmakers coming together to take a stand for film in Arkansas.”
Arkansas was a pioneer in film incentives, starting with what was called the “Nickel Rebate” in 1983. But today’s incentives — 25% with up to 5% added on as rebates or tax credits for approved production spending — lag behind other states, the society argues.
The rebate is currently unfunded, and the tax credit, added by statute in 2021, is capped at $4 million.
“The Arkansas Legislature has commissioned world-renowned creative consultants Olsberg SPI to issue a study on the economic benefits of film to Arkansas,” but that has yet to be published, the society said.
“Oklahoma’s 38% rebate with a $30 million annual cap has given it a clear advantage, drawing productions that could have been Arkansas-based. Arkansas natives Lee Isaac Chung, Clark Duke, Jeff Nichols, Graham Gordy, and others have wanted to shoot more of their films and TV shows in their home state,” the society said in a news release. “They have had to take their productions elsewhere, however, due to Arkansas’s lack of incentives and infrastructure.”
Kathryn Tucker, the society’s executive director and co-founder, urged lawmakers and policy makers to study the numbers.
“States like Georgia have lifted their cap completely because they realized their caps were only limiting their ability to generate revenue,” she said. “We are not trying to be the next Georgia. Our focus is on Arkansas, so we are eager to see the results from the recent comprehensive Olsberg SPI economic impact study done in Arkansas.”
Tucker, whose brother is state Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, is a Miramax Films veteran and a member of the Directors Guild of America.
She said the state is missing out on a chance to profit from its beautiful landscapes and native hospitality. “Without competitive film incentives, we’ll continue losing business and homegrown talent to neighboring states for more consistent and better paying jobs. My family has deep roots in Arkansas, spanning seven generations, and my dream is to make movies here. The current film incentives and lack of infrastructure, however, make a career in filmmaking unsustainable in Arkansas.”
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