Right now, there’s not much of a film industry locally or regionally. Henderson Tourist Commission Executive Director Abby Dixon hopes that can change.
On Tuesday, she pitched to both the Henderson County Fiscal Court and the Henderson City Commission a plan for Henderson and Henderson County to be represented in the West Kentucky Film Commission, a consortium of communities that hope to lure film companies to the area.
Dixon said filming locally could bring dollars to Henderson—she said that for every $1 spent on incentives to bring a production company to town there’s the possibility of a $7 return on investment.
Additionally, points on the presentation she made include:
- The reinstated and expanded Kentucky Entertainment Incentive offers 30-35% tax credits to productions filming in Kentucky
- Projects may be eligible for up to $10 million in tax credits, with a maximum of $75 million available for all approved projects per calendar year
- The Kentucky Office of Film and Development (Kentucky Film Office), established under SB1, is scheduled to become operational on July 1, 2025.
- Film, TV, and streaming demand is booming, and communities across western Kentucky are preparing to compete.
So far, counties that have joined the West Kentucky Film Commission are Muhlenberg, Daviess, Hopkins, McCracken, Warren, Simpson and Christian.
Dixon appeared at both Tuesday meetings, hoping to get a $3,333.33 grant from each that would match the tourist commission’s money for a total of $10,000, which is the first-year fee for each community.
The money—along with other members’ contributions—will go toward funding marketing of the area to be undertaken by Goldenrod Films, a group out of Louisville that will attend what amounts to trade shows in California pitching the positives of shooting in western Kentucky, Dixon said.
Both the commission and the court approved the funding.
Dr. McManus Woodend, an assistant professor of digital media at the University of Southern Indiana, is all on board with any type of program that can bring more filmmaking to the area. Woodend, who has more than 20 years of experience in film, television and commercials and also writes a monthly movie column for the Hendersonian, will work on a short film this summer that’s set in Henderson.
“Joining the West Kentucky Film Commission will benefit Henderson and the surrounding counties by combining efforts and resources in a way each area would not be able to do individually,” Woodend said. “As a filmmaker, I am excited to bring current and future productions to Henderson County.”
In both meetings Tuesday, Dixon said she hopes that the film commission could lead to film industry jobs here in the future, a point that Woodend echoed.
“The film commission has the potential to create new jobs and industry-specific training for locals who wouldn’t have the opportunity to live and work in larger cities like Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City,” he said.
Dixon said she wanted to get funding approval ahead of an announcement from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear introducing the West Kentucky Film Commission that he’s scheduled to make in Madisonville on Wednesday.