In order to qualify for the Virginia Motion Picture Production Tax Credit, productions must have $250,000 minimum qualifying expenses.

All productions must demonstrate that they have made a best-faith effort to complete at least 50% of principal photography in Virginia.

Virginia film incentives are awarded on a selective, case-by-case basis.

Distressed Area Bonus: a 5% bump if the production is filmed in an economically distressed area of Virginia.

Virginia Resident First-Time Industry Employee Credit: a 10% bump on payroll expenses for Virginia residents who are first-time actors or first-time members of a production crew.

This uplift applies only to compensation paid to those qualifying individuals and it must be the individual’s first time receiving compensation as an actor or member of a production crew on a film, ever, anywhere.

Submit an application to the Virginia Film Office at least 30 days prior to the beginning of production; include a copy of the script, production budget and the proposed production schedule. Applicants must enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Film Office.

The project must go into pre-production within 90 days of the application’s approval. If motion picture production continues for more than one year, a separate application for each tax year the production continues must be made.

The Virginia Film Office will respond within 30 business days of each application.

Virginia offers both a refundable film tax credit and a grant-based production incentive. The two Virginia film incentives share nearly identical eligibility criteria, and in many cases a production can qualify under either program.

†The biggest difference between the two incentive funds is that productions must spend at least $250,000 on qualified expenses in Virginia to qualify for the film tax credit. The grant does not require a minimum spend.

*Projects can qualify for an incentive of more than 15% on resident payroll expenses, dependent on total in-state spending:
     • Productions spending between $250,000 and $1,000,000 in Virginia may claim an additional 10% credit on their total Virginia-resident payroll.
     • Productions spending more than $1,000,000 in Virginia may claim an additional 20% credit on their total Virginia-resident payroll.

Annual funding for the Virginia Motion Picture Production Tax Credit Fund is $6,500,000 per fiscal year. The Motion Picture Opportunity Fund (grant program) is funded at $4,000,000 per fiscal year.