Productions must have $250,000 minimum qualifying expenses and make a best effort to film at least 50% of principal photography in the Virginia.

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 credit of 10% percent of the total aggregate payroll for Virginia residents who are employed as first time actors or first time members of a production crew in connection with a production in Virginia. It must be the employee’s first time receiving compensation and wages as either an actor or as a member of a production crew on a film, ever, anywhere, and the employee must be a Virginia resident.

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.

The VA Film Office actually has a grant and a tax credit program. They follow extremely similar requirements. 

For the grant: the Governor's Motion Picture Opportunity Fund (GMPOF) offers discretionary grants to production companies and studios. For grant consideration, the application must be submitted 30 days prior to the start of principal photography and the applicant must demonstrate that 100% of the anticipated financing is in place. In addition, a condition of receiving the grant is a joint public announcement between the production company and the Governor. The project must begin physical production within 12 months following application submission to the Virginia Film Office. 

The biggest difference between the programs is that the grant does not require a minimum spend. $5,150,000 will be available for the grant in 2024.

For goods with a purchase price of $25,000 or more, the amount included in qualifying expenses is the purchase price less the fair market value of the good at the time the production is completed.