Motion Picture Production Program
Arizona's Motion Picture Production Program (MPPP) is a refundable tax credit program that allows production companies the opportunity to recapture a percentage of qualified production expenses spent in Arizona to produce more than 50% of their movie, television show, commercial, or music video at a Qualified Production Facility and/or at a Practical Location beginning January 1, 2023.
Arizona will hand out up to $125 million a year in tax breaks to film makers, joining the ranks of just a handful of states with nine-figure caps in their incentive programs. Under the program, productions that shoot in Arizona will be eligible for a refundable tax credit of 15 to 20 percent of expenses. The Arizona Motion Picture Production Program will start at $75 million in 2023 and grow to $125 million by 2025.
To qualify, producers must use an Arizona production facility or, if the project is primarily filmed on location, must mostly shoot and conduct pre- and postproduction in the state. The program features a tiered credit system: productions that spend less than $10 million will get a base tax credit of 15 percent, while those that spend more than $35 million will get 20 percent. Projects with budgets from $10 million to $35 million are eligible for 17.5 percent of their spending to be offset by the incentives.
Productions are also eligible for a 2.5 percent bump on labor costs for hiring Arizona residents or if they are a long-term tenant (five years) of a qualified production facility. A feature spending $15 million in the state could be eligible for a tax break between 17.5 percent and 22.5 percent depending on local residents hired for a return of at least $2.5 million.
While studios are capped at receiving $25 million in tax breaks, they could get the credit in the form of a cash refund if it’s larger than their tax liability.
Popular Locations
Gammons Gulch
A living Ghost Town, Gammons Gulch is an Old West Town movie set with a wide main street, side streets and alleyways. As you cross the dry wash, you come to “The Gulch” where the mining camp is located with mine, a miners Cabin, ore cars, mining equipment and a huge one lunger engine.
Old Bisbee and Lowell
Located 90 miles southeast of Tucson and nestled among the Mule Mountains, Bisbee is the picturesque county seat of historic Cochise County. The community was founded in 1880, and quickly became a thriving urban center, driven by a booming mining industry that thrived on the area's rich reserves of copper and precious metals.
Today, Bisbee's extraordinarily well-preserved early-twentieth-century downtown draws visitors from around the world, who appreciate its historic architecture, it's welcoming, creative spirit and its cool climate.
Mescal Movie Set
The Mescal Movie Set is one of the big screen's most recognizable western cinematic towns. The iconic set was home to Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead and over 100 other films. Episodes of Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Magnificent Seven, Little House on the Prairie and The Young Riders also filmed at Mescal.
The set offers 28 buildings on 70 acres in a cattle country setting with mountain backdrops, scenic vistas and spectacular sunsets.
Texas Canyon
Texas Canyon is a valley in Cochise County, about 20 miles east of Benson on Interstate 10. Lying between the Little Dragoon Mountains to the north and the Dragoon Mountains to the south and known for its giant granite boulders, the canyon attracts rockhounds and photographers as well as film productions seeking a rugged and dramatic western backdrop.
Tombstone
The Town Too Tough To Die
Tombstone Arizona is internationally known for its stormy and storied past. Western legends like Wyatt Earp and “Doc” Holliday became household names after the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
USEFUL LINKS
Arizona Commerce Authority - Film & Digital Media
Arizona Production Association
Motion Picture Production Program Incentive (MPPP)
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PBS - Arizona's Film Industry is Booming 06/20/2022
Cronkite News - Arizona Film Industry is growing after a decade of stagnation 03/22/2022
LA Film - 6 PRODUCTION-FRIENDLY STATES TO START YOUR FILM INDUSTRY JOB SEARCH 07/2023
