Governor Says Lift the Film Incentives Cap

By Catherine M. Welch

Wilmington, NC – Governor Bev Perdue says the General Assembly needs to lift the cap on North Carolina's film incentives.

Lawmakers just hiked the incentive from 15 to 25%, but it's only for the first $7.5 million spent. Perdue says that's great for television productions, but if North Carolina wants to lure feature films with big stars, then lawmakers need to lift the cap.

"If we're going to have a film industry in North Carolina, and I'm totally committed to that, then we need to work with the general assembly to fix the incentive that we have. Because the one that we have is not making us competitive."

A Walt Disney movie slated for Wilmington went to Georgia last year to cash in on a larger film incentive.

Lawmakers opposed to North Carolina's incentives package say Hollywood will never be satisfied with the tax breaks it's given.

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