The upcoming Fred Rogers biopic, “You Are My Friend,” starring Tom Hanks, has been a benefactor of the program. So, too, has “Creed,” a film that is part of the “Rocky” film franchise.
More than a dozen speakers gave testimony to the Pennsylvania House Democratic Policy Committee recently on the state’s film tax credit program, which was created in 2007 in its existing iteration as a part of Act 55.
At its core, Pennsylvania’s film tax credit program offers film producters a 25 percent rebate on productions taking place within the state, so long as 60 percent of a list of expenses are incurred within its borders.
In her remarks before the committee, Carrie Fischer Lepore, deputy secretary for marketing, tourism and film in the Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development, said the state has approved $812 million in tax credits to film companies since the program’s launch.
“More than $3 billion has been directly invested in Pennsylvania’s economy by the film industry,” Fischer Lepore said in her testimony. “This investment has resulted in a total economic impact approaching $5 billion – a total that includes the projected impact for productions awarded tax credits this current fiscal year.” See more here.
