While it isn’t a big secret that big budget flicks bring money with them to the state in which they are filmed, we were still a little stunned to hear that the filming of Transformers: Dark of the Moon brought about $24 million in spending to the state of Illinois.
Even though the reviews of Transformers 3 aren’t that great, the filming of the movie was a success for Illinois. Transformers was filmed in Chicago last summer and brought in hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the state.
Betsy Steinberg from the Illinois Film Office, states that it was most likely the 30 percent tax credit for film productions that helped with the decision to shoot in the windy city. She adds “Without a serious tax credit, it’s very difficult to get any kind of film industry to town. Currently, over 40 states have some sort of film tax credits or incentives in place.”
Steinberg says the film industry as a whole brought in a record $161 million to the state in 2010. She says more projects are in the works this year, including the Superman movie being filmed around Plano, Illinois.
[Photo: Chicago Tribune]
