Behind the scenes of Charleston’s booming film industry

The latest installment of Halloween premieres tomorrow, and– in case you missed all the hype– most of it was filmed right here in Charleston.

A Charleston home decorated for the Halloween movie filming | Photo by @hyder455

Back in early February (when most of us were more likely to be taking down lingering Christmas decorations than putting up Halloween decor), yards could be seen adorned with pumpkins + cobwebs, film sets were seen popping up all over the city, and Jamie Lee Curtis sightings were abundant.

Halloween’s supervillain Michael Meyers has long since left town for good (at least, we hope), but Hollywood is still a frequent visitor of CHS. The second season of AT&T’s Mr. Mercedes was shot here, for instance, and so was the pilot for Danny McBride’s new HBO show. In fact, after moving to Charleston with his family, McBride moved his entire production company here, too.

In other words, South Carolina’s film industry seems to be hitting its stride. So, what’s driving the boom– and will it last?

In short, the South Carolina state legislature sweetened the deal for production companies by offering tax incentives + cash rebates. The deals are of course greater when the project’s employees + supplies are hired and purchased in-state.

A breakdown:
30%+ on in-state supplies
25% on out-of-state supplies
25% on in-state wages
20% on out-of-state wages

Additionally, S.C. offers short film grants for those trying to break into the business.

However, the Palmetto State isn’t alone in this method of luring Hollywood to its doorstep– the majority of states now offer to these to some degree. Additionally, S.C. doesn’t even offer the sweetest deals (their budget maxes out between $15-$17 million)– those can be found in Louisiana, New Mexico, California, New York, and Georgia (ever noticed that Georgia peach come up at the end of your latest Netflix binge’s credits? 🍑). S.C. is even competing with entire countries who offer film incentives of their own– i.e. Canada + the U.K.

Not everyone’s a fan, though. Critics of such incentives say it’s hard to pinpoint whether or not they actually generate much long-term revenue for the states offering tax breaks– and some suspect states may actually be losing money. (A CofC analysis says South Carolina’s film incentives generate just 19 cents for every dollar spent).

Here’s a (very quick) timeline of film incentives:
1992: The first state-level film incentives are established by Louisiana.
2004: The South Carolina Motion Picture Incentive Act is signed into law.
2014: North Carolina votes to end its film incentives, thus driving more traffic to South Carolina. (In 2017, though, N.C. Governor Roy Cooper revived the program– so whether or not the increase will stick around is TBD).

By the numbers:

100+. The number of feature films shot in S.C.
70+. The number of T.V. shows filmed in S.C.
~$17 million. The amount in incentives paid out by the S.C. Film Commission each year.

Biggest box office hits filmed in S.C.:

Forrest Gump (1994): $677.9 million
The Patriot (2000): $215.3 million
Magic Mike XXL (2015): $122.5 million
The Notebook (2004): $115.6 million
Dear John (2010): $114.9 million

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Despite a background in TV production, I never fail to get excited by the sight of a film crew. Something about being on a set feels kind of magical.

BTW– you can catch me in that upcoming HBO show, The Righteous Gemstones.

I’ll be part of a crowd of about 300 other extras. I’m sure I’ll be really easy to spot.

– Jen