Many states offer film incentives now, which can be lucrative to the corporate housing industry.
When British Columbia and in particular Vancouver offer huge tax incentives for filmmakers to move their business there, the money followed.
Now it seems like every state in the union is trying to get a piece of the pie. Michigan has had substantial success with landing new film contracts. SAG, or the the Screen Actors Guild, lists film incentives by state. If you want to get a step ahead of the ball, you may want to check out their website and figure out which states are offering the biggest incentives this year.
It isn’t just actors that land work in these states. The carpentry business will also see demand, and in our case, the corporate housing industry gets slammed with requests.
LA 411 and New York 411 both offer comprehensive lists of hotels, however there aren’t many providers listed. If you do business on either coast it might be worthwhile to list there.
The Michigan Film Office offers a list of corporate housing providers in the area. If you’re able to find corporate housing in Alaska, the Alaska Film Office has a list of accommodations as well.
One enterprising Michigan provider has even named themselves Film Crew Homes and seem to specialize only in film industry bookings.
There’s also the opportunity to house the film industry on a short-term basis during major film festivals such as South by Southwest, or Sundance. Sundance Accommodations Office should be able to offer some suggestions.
If you go on any production company forum, you realize that people in the film industry have long memories for people and events. Make a good impression, and you may end up criss-crossing the country with future productions.