State hopes to lure more filmmakers.
Hoping to woo more Hollywood business, North Carolina on Thursday increased the state's film incentive to 25 percent.
The incentive will become effective Jan. 1, as the state's leaders hope not only to make North Carolina more of a destination major filmmakers and producers but to keep grip and crew talent in the state, Wilmington-based company EUE/Screen Gems Studios COO Chris Cooney said in a statement.
Cooney also noted that his company's Stage 10 is the third largest soundstage in the country, making it another draw for film production.
This makes North Carolina the latest state hoping to become a Hollywood player. Layst year, Michigan increased its film incentive to 42 percent, making that state's the "richest incentive in the country, Michigan Film Office Director Janet Lockwood told Variety.
She added that the rebate had "quickly put (the state) on the map, citing Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" as a film originally to have been filmed in Minnesota, until the new tax credits made Detroit more financially attractive.
Additionally, Variety reported on Thursday that HBO has optioned "Middlesex" — Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulizer-Prize-winning novel set in Detroit — for an hourlong drama series, with the possibility of filming to be done on location.
A number of major productions have been shot in North Carolina, including "Bull Durham," "Last of the Mohicans," "Forrest Gump," "Dirty Dancing" and "Hannibal."
