As you may be aware, Senate Bill 1179 and House Bill 2108 which sought to increase film incentives in Virginia will not be moving forward this session, as they did not move out of committee. While this is disappointing, there is still a valuable opportunity to support film incentives during this legislative session.
Both the Senate and the House have proposed increases for the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund, which serves as the grant portion of the film incentive program. The Senate has proposed a $2.5 million allocation, while the House has suggested $1 million. Discussions regarding the final budget amounts are already underway and are expected to be announced as soon as Thursday, February 20, 2025.
The difference in funding is significant: The Senate's proposal could help attract a new production to Virginia, whereas the House’s allocation would only cover an obligation to a past production. To secure the most impactful investment in Virginia’s film industry, we urge you to take two important actions today:
Show your support for Budget Amendment 101 #2s to increase funding for the film and television industry to the Senate’s proposed amount of $2.5 million. You can submit a comment about why this is important to you as a constituent and member of the industry on the Public Comment site. When submitting, be sure to leave the comment on both HB1600 (Torian Budget Bill) and SB800 (Lucas Budget Bill).
Reach out directly to your Delegates and Senators (listed below) and encourage them to support the higher funding allocation of $2.5 million with Budget Amendment 101 #2 to the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund.
- Chairman Torian - DelLTorian@house.virginia.gov
- Delegate Sickles - DelMSickles@house.virginia.gov
- Delegate Bulova - DelDBulova@house.virginia.gov
- Delegate Carr - DelBCarr@house.virginia.gov
- Delegate Austin- DelTAustin@house.virginia.gov
- Delegate Bloxom - DelRBloxom@house.virginia.gov
- Senator Lucas - senatorlucas@senate.virginia.gov
- Senator Deeds - senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov
- Senator Locke - senatorlocke@senate.virginia.gov
- Senator Boysko - senatorboysko@senate.virginia.gov
- Senator McDougle - senatormcdougle@senate.virginia.gov
- Senator Pillion - senatorpillion@senate.virginia.gov
Your voice can make a difference. Thank you for your continued support and for helping us advocate for a stronger film industry in Virginia!
Please reach out to ryan.hastings@sagaftra.org with any questions or if you need assistance with crafting your outreach.
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