The Arizona film tax credit has a tiered system of return based on your in-state spend. If your spend is:

  • Under $10,000,000 in the state, your local spend and non-resident labor earn a base credit of 15% and your BTL resident labor earns a credit of 17.5%.

  • Over $10,000,000 but under $35,000,000 in the state, your local spend and non-resident labor earn a base credit of 17.5% and your BTL resident labor is at 20%.

  • Over $35,000,000 in the state, your local spend and non-resident labor earn a base credit of 20% and your BTL resident labor is at 22.5%.

Additionally, the production company must have a physical business office in Arizona and maintain an Arizona-based BTL workforce, as well as meet one of the following:

• Film at a Qualified Production Facility (a soundstage of at least 10,000 square feet), as defined by the Arizona Commerce Authority.

• Film more than 50% of your project at a Practical Location in Arizona and perform all prep, post and editing at an Industry Standard Facility in Arizona, if such a facility is available.

Facility Use Bonus: a 2.5% bump is available on all qualified Production Costs where one of the following occurs:

  • Use a Qualified Production Facility to produce the production in AZ.

  • More than 50% of the production is filmed at a Practical Location in AZ with all preproduction, postproduction, and editing completed at a Qualified Production Facility in AZ.

  • The project is produced and filmed in association with a Long-Term Tenant of a Qualified Production Facility in AZ. “Long-Term Tenant” means a person that enters into a lease of at least five years for the use of a Qualified Production Facility.

The application and supporting documents must be submitted to the AZ Commerce Authority’s Film and Digital Media Office for approval. Documents include but are not limited to: your budget, amount of residents vs non residents, filming locations, etc. 

There is an Application Fee of 1% of the pre-approved credit amount, not to exceed $100,000 (non-refundable) and an Administrative Fee of 1% of the pre-approved credit amount. The administration fee is refundable if the Authority is notified within 90 days from the pre-approval certification date that production will not commence.

The project must enter production within 9 months of notice of pre-qualification status.

Arizona's $125,000,000 annual allocation runs through calendar year 2043. Up to $25,000,000 of each year's allocation is set aside for productions filmed primarily at Practical Locations, and the rest goes to Qualified Production Facility projects.

Credits are pre-approved in the order complete applications are received, so confirm remaining funding with the Arizona Commerce Authority before budgeting.

Arizona also works with local vendors on a "Reel Savings Vendor Program" to offer additional discounts when using local vendors. Be sure to ask Arizona vendors about this when setting up.