• “Liberal Arts,” starring Columbus native Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”), will receive a $229,909 tax credit to shoot in Gambier and Columbus. It is expected to hire 170 Ohioans as cast and crew.
• “Old Fashioned,” about the courtship of an antique shop owner and a free-spirited young woman, is in line for $140,955 tax credit to shoot in Tuscarawas County. About 60 Ohioans are expected to be hired — auditions are scheduled for June 26-27 at Kent State University.
• “Seven Below Zero,” starring Val Kilmer, will receive a $335,722 tax credit, shoot in Goshen and Cincinnati this summer and hire about 60 Ohioans. The movie is about six travelers trapped in a home where a murder occurred 100 years ago.
The Ohio Film Office reports that since the state established the tax credit in fiscal year 2010, $29 million in tax breaks have been given to projects employing more than 9,000 Ohioans and pumping almost $120 million into the state’s economy.
State lawmakers are considering continuing the tax credit as part of the upcoming two-year budget. Plans call for $10 million in tax credits for fiscal year 2012 and another $10 million for 2013, said Katie Sabatino, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development.
The tax credit opened the spigot for film projects in Ohio and it makes Ohio competitive with surrounding states that offer similar tax breaks, she said.
“They were few and far between before the motion picture tax credit came into effect,” Sabatino said.
“Unstoppable,” which was filmed partially near Stuebenville, is now out on DVD, “Ides of March,” starring George Clooney, just finished filming in Cincinnati, and “The Avengers,” starring Robert Downey Jr., is slated to start filming in Cleveland this summer.
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