PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island's movie industry appears to have fully stabilized in the last few years since the COViD-19 pandemic, the state's annual film tax credit reports show.
For the fiscal 2024 calendar year ending June 30, Rhode Island doled out a total of $8.8 million in motion picture production tax credits to seven taxpaying film projects, according to the most recent Annual Tax Credit Disclosure Report.
This past year marked the third consecutive year where millions in tax breaks were allocated to film companies producing content in the state.
In 2023, Rhode Island gave $13.5 million in tax breaks to such film companies. A year prior, it was a total of $13.8 million.
However, in the two years following the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, Rhode Island's film industry was looking bleak, the annual figures from the state's Department of Revenue, Division of Taxation show.
In 2020, the year the pandemic began, the department reported only $261,796 in motion picture tax credits. In 2021, only $521,377 was allocated to such projects. For context, nearly $3.2 million in tax credits were given to film companies in 2019, a year before the pandemic. COVID ultimately led to the suspension of most television production from mid-March 2020 onward. It was the largest disruption to U.S. television production since the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.
Meanwhile in the U.S. film industry, more than 155 films were delayed in 2020 and forced production into 2021 or 2022. The pandemic also significantly impacted employment in the nation's film and television industries, as well.
Currently, there is still tens of millions of dollars in Rhode Island film tax credits still on the table for production companies who qualify. The state's film tax credit
was previously capped at $40 million but now has a $20 million cap for 2025, meaning it can only offer that amount per year to all combined applicants. There is a $7 million cap per project, which can be waived for qualifying motion picture and TV productions, according to the Rhode Island Film & TV Office.
Chad A. Verdi, president of East Greenwich-based production company, Verdi Productions, says he hopes the recent spike in film and television activity will help eliminate the state's motion picture tax credit cap, because it's forcing productions to go elsewhere in New England to film.
"Although the state's tax credit is beneficial for independent films like "Sleepwalker," the state's cap on the tax credit prohibits larger films from coming to the Ocean State," Verdi said. "We're hoping that what we are doing here encourages the state to raise the tax credit cap, in order to compete with surrounding states such as Massachusetts and Connecticut."
The news comes a day after
Providence Business News reported "Sleepwalker," a new psychological thriller being produced by Verdi Productions, just wrapped filming in Rhode Island on Feb 8.
"Sleepwalker" estimated it would be spending approximately $4.5 million in Rhode Island. Verdi Productions, which co-produced the film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio's company, expects to receive upwards of $1.35 million in tax credits from the state for the film.
HeyDey Productions, which produces HBO's "The Gilded Age" show in Newport, received $6.4 million in tax breaks in the 2024 fiscal year.
(UPDATE: Clarifies state film tax credit in 8th and 12th paragraphs)
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
