Hawaii Tax Credit Attracts Major Players to Hawaii

Hawaii film officials say that the state's tax credit along with events like the Hawaii International Film Festival is generating new filming in the region. 

Act 88 has been in effect since July 2006. The state's film commissioner Donne Dawson says it's generated a lot of business for the state. The third installment of the Pirates of the Carribean was partially shot in Hawaii. A couple episodes of NBC's Las Vegas were also shot here. Both were lured by the tax incentive that is Act 88.

"They get 15% back on everything they spend on Oahu, 20% back on everything they spend on Neighbor Islands. That one is specifically to try and build up our infrastructure statewide," says  the  state's film commissioner Donne Dawson . 

"Pirates" of one of more than 30 productions that have applied for the tax credit so far, from major films, to television shows, to national and international commercials. Dawson remarks, "It puts Hawaii back on the map in terms of our competitiveness with other jurisdictions. We'd gotten to a point where we were losing productions as a result of not having meaningful tax credit."

Dawson says it's a big boost for the state's economy. "Close to $180 million in direct expenditures that is the result of a little more than 30 productions."

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