Motion Picture Competitiveness Bill Signed into Law By Jessie Wilson, Communications Consultant, Washington Filmworks FLASHBACK TO 2011: In June of 2011, the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program sunset, in essence halting five years of significant effort to maintain Washington’s viability on the national filmmaking scene. Efforts to renew the legislation that funds our state’s film incentive program passed the Senate in [...]

Reactions to the Film Program’s Renewal Members of Washington’s production community poured forth with celebratory—and congratulatory—words about the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program’s hard-fought battle for renewal. Take a look… I was privileged to be a “Team Captain” working with Washington Filmworks. While the process seemed frustrating and mind boggling at times, it was great learning the political ropes and was [...]

Several Washington- and Oregon-made films screened at this spring’s South by Southwest (SxSW) Film Festival. Here’s a look at a few of them: Eden Seattle writer/director Megan Griffiths’ third feature film made its premiere at SxSW this year—and won three awards in competition. Eden won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature, the Jury Special Award for Performance (Jamie Chung), and [...]

By Paul Nevius, Communications Coordinator, Washington Filmworks Despite the uncertainty surrounding Washington’s motion picture tax incentive and the future of filmmaking in the Evergreen State, summer of 2011 represents one of the busiest and most productive shooting seasons in recent memory. Cities around the state played host to four feature-length films that showcased the variety of locations and the depth [...]

On the night of May 25, the 2011 legislative special session adjourned and it was revealed that a bill to renew the state’s production industry incentive program did not pass. The bill—which would have extended the expiration date for the Washington Motion Picture Competitiveness Program from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2017, and increased the program’s budget, among other [...]