North Carolina welcomes film makers. You'll find a talented crew base and dazzling locations in our beautiful state. Enjoy minimal permitting and expert help from our state film office to get you up and running. We can also offer financial rebates on your production expenses.
Film and Entertainment Grant Program
North Carolina offers producers financial rebates of up to 25% on qualified expenses.
To qualify
A television series must average an in-state spend of at least $500,000 per episode;
A feature-length film must spend at least $1.5 million;
Made-for-television movies must spend at least $500,000;
A commercial production must have a minimum spend of at least $250,000.
Grant limits:
For a television series, grant awards shall not exceed $15 million per season;
For a feature-length film (including made-for-television movies), awards cannot exceed $7 million;
For a commercial, awards cannot exceed $250,000.
Find more information on the grant program at the NC Film Office website. To apply for the Film and Entertainment Grant, you should:
Download and familiarize yourself with the program's enabling statute and recent changes.
Download and read the program guidelines (PDF) - revised August 8, 2023.
Complete the NC Film Office's Intent to Film Notification Form
Complete the formal Film and Entertainment Grant Application. The N.C. Film Office will send you this application, after they review your completed “Intent” form. They'll let you know first if your production is eligible to apply.
The North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant is funded at $31 million each fiscal year (July 1-June 30). The funding is designated as a recurring budget item, and has no sunset date. Any remaining/unused funds do roll over from fiscal year to fiscal year.
Support for Your Production in North Carolina
The N.C. Film Office helps you expedite production schedules when you set up sticks in our state. The Office serves as your liaison with public and private groups here.
The Office can help you secure locations and services. Working with regional film commissions, the Office helps cut through red tape at the state, county, and local level. The Film Office also helps promote North Carolina as a film and tourist location.
North Carolina boasts a workforce of more than 4,000 film professionals. You'll find thousands of quality film locations here too. Film industry professionals can register and search for crew members with our N.C. Film Directory. Search for locations with the N.C. Location Search tool.
The Film Office is a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. For more information on the advantages of bringing your film project to the state, visit the official site of the N.C. Film Office.
Contact the N.C. Film Office directly at 919-447-7800 or drop an email to guy@filmnc.com.
This page was last modified on 08/30/2023