WASHINGTON - As governors continue exploring innovative strategies to grow their economies, states are increasingly looking to film, television and related media arts productions as a means of attracting high-paying jobs and related high-tech businesses, according to a new Issue Brief from the National Governors Associations Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), Promoting Film and Media to Enhance State Economic Development.

The state and local economic benefits brought by hosting a major motion picture production are numerous. Film, TV and media arts productions help create local jobs by using residents to staff the production, as well as boost local economies by purchasing goods and services from local vendors. In addition, many productions provide long-term, post production benefits to key areas by repairing existing buildings, creating new infrastructure and improving aesthetics such as gardens and landscaping that support a creative filming environment.

Today's film and television productions don't just provide entertainment, they also provide jobs and investment in our economies, said Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. This past April, we increased Michigan's tax credit for producing films from 20 percent to 40 percent and included an additional two percent credit for films produced in key communities across our state.

As this brief exemplifies, governors across the country are working to ensure that their states are primed to attract exciting opportunities like these for their citizens, said Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Not only does Connecticut provide tax, labor and lodging incentives for film projects, but we also have created a film workforce training program.

In 2005, the motion picture industry contributed more than $60 billion to the U.S. economy and employed more than 1.3 million Americans. But American productions frequently have been lured by global competition and are increasingly locating their projects in other countries that are less expensive to operate in. This trend takes million of dollars in payroll and expenditures on goods and services out of the United States. In an effort to bring these jobs back to the U.S. and ensure the economic benefits are enjoyed by states, governors have begun integrating targeted strategies into their overall economic development plans to attract film, television and media arts productions. States are employing a variety of policies and programs to attract industry activity, including:

• Offering financial incentives such as tax credits on in-state expenditures;
• Supporting the development of a state workforce with industry skills through university programs and other training programs;
• Marketing the state's production advantages through Web sites and other publicity materials; and
• Helping facilitate the production process through production guides and/or scouting programs.

Promoting Film and Media to Enhance State Economic Development is the fifth in a series of Issue Briefs that document how the arts can help states develop additional economic opportunities. The series is produced by the NGA Center with funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts and research assistance from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

To learn more about what states are doing to improve their economic development and outlook, please visit www.nga.org/center.

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