A trade group and a Native Corporation are teamed up to promote a program that attracts movie and television productions to Alaska. The Alaska Film Group and Nana Regional Corporation owned Piksik LLC are pushing the state to extend its film incentive program. Film Group board member and Piksik project manager Deborah Schildt says the program is credited with increasing the number of movies and television shows shot in Alaska.
Schildt talked to the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce about the importance of the incentive program yesterday. The program offers tax credits to production companies based on how much they spend in the state, hire locally and shoot in rural Alaska.
The Alaska film incentive program passed during the Palin administration and is scheduled to sunset in 2013. A bill to extend it is being considered by the legislature. The Associated Press reported last month that Representative Anna Fairclough is concerned that some productions cast Alaska in a bad light, and wants an audit to better determine how the program is benefiting Alaskans.
The Film group attributes recent years’ film productions with employing thousands of state residents and supporting hundreds of Alaska businesses in recent years. Schildt says supporters are pushing for a 10 year extension to provide long term stability for the industry in Alaska.
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Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
