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Brown Signs Bill To Expand Oregon Film And Video Tax Credit

The film "Wild," starring Reese Witherspoon was partially filmed on location in Oregon.
Fox Searchlight
The film "Wild," starring Reese Witherspoon was partially filmed on location in Oregon.

The list of iconic movies filmed at least partly in Oregon is long. It includes “The Goonies,” “Animal House,” and more recently, “Wild” starring Reese Witherspoon.

Now a bill signed into law Thursday by Gov. Kate Brown gives film and video companies a greater incentive to base productions in Oregon.

Oregon's film and video tax credit is meant to lure productions to the state by offering financial incentives to offset production costs. This bill expands the available money by 40 percent over the next two years.

The expansion of the production fund was part of a tax credit package that passed both chambers by wide margins during the 2016 legislative session. Film and television producers have to spend at least $1 million in Oregon to qualify for the credit.

Critics call it a giveaway to wealthy production companies that don't need taxpayer subsidies to turn a profit.

Copyright 2016 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.
Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.