Ben Joravsky:
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Without a tax incentive of its own Illinois can expect its production numbers to decline significantly. The state can also expect local production businesses, whose supply of jobs and revenue depend on the volume of production shooting in state, to fall on hard times. This not only means less tax revenue for the state, but more local employees out of work.
Several steps have already been taken. For example, the Illinois Production Alliance, which has lobbied for incentives legislation for years, has an active diversity committee. This committee has been instrumental in signing up minority-owned vendors and crew members with the Illinois Film Office, which makes its list available to incoming productions.
Local production companies now have a significant tool to use when bidding for jobs from ad agencies. If Chicago’s sizable ad market can be convinced to keep a larger portion of their commercial work in state, it could have major ramifications for the local production industry.
