SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – Support for the movie-making business is growing across the state, and a piece of the Upstate is playing a role.
The Spark Center on the Spartanburg Community College Tyger River campus offers start-up space for a wide range of industries, including film. The businesses that take space at the center agree to expand or locate in Spartanburg County in exchange for a rent-free year.
“We provide IT support. We have HVAC support. We have all kinds of maintenance. We have janitorials. We help you help your bottom line,” said Spark Center Director Pam Sargent.
At the same time, the state budget gives the South Carolina Film Commission $10 million in addition to what it gets from admission taxes on ticket sales at movie theaters, performance venues and other places of amusement. Matt Storm with the commission said these funds are used to give tax rebates to production companies that make movies in the state.
“What I want to do is use a portion of that to rebate back the productions that want to use in-state post-production houses to try to incentivize those productions to stay local,” Storm shared.
Brenton Early, whose company FilmPool just moved into the Spark Center, says his goal is not only open a company locally, but move to the area as well. FilmPool has already made four movies in the Palmetto State.
“There’s a need for it here, and Spartanburg in particular is very rich, and people want to be part of Hollywood,” said Early. “They want to be part of the industry.”
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