Incentives & Grants
Oregon Media Incentives: OPIF, L-OPIF, and R-OPIF
The State of Oregon has multiple production incentive programs, including the “Regional Oregon Production Investment Fund” (R-OPIF) that specifically incentivizes the production of media in regions like Southern Oregon that reside outside of the Portland Metro Zone. Below you will find a summary of incentives offered by Oregon, but for more detailed information about the benefits and how to apply, we encourage you to visit the Oregon Film Office page. Unlike other states’ programs, Oregon’s incentives are cash rebates as opposed to tax credits. This enables the state to deliver you a check quickly and efficiently. Additionally, Oregon’s lack of any sales tax on goods and services can immediately save you 7%, 8%, or more right from the start.
25% for goods and services from Oregon vendors and 20% for in-state labor.
When combined with the GREENLIGHT OREGON LABOR REBATE program for projects over $1M, Oregon labor for in-state spending would be 26.2% for payrolled labor (resident & non-resident, up to $1M/person or entity).
This is a DOUBLING of the rebate rates for labor and a 25% increase for the vendor rebate.
Oregon’s annual OPIF incentive allocation is $20 M per year – an increase of 40% over previous levels. These are CASH REBATES, not transferable credits. And, as always, Oregon has NO SALES TAX and FEE-FREE STATE PARKS.
For additional Regional incentives on top of the state rebate, click the tab on the far right.
The “Local Oregon Production Investment Fund” or L-OPIF (formally “iOPIF”) provides rebates of 25% of goods and services and 20% of Oregon payrolled labor for projects by Oregon producers who spend a minimum of $75,000, up to the first $1million of their spend. Other requirements will apply – such as the project must be actively produced by an Oregon Resident producer or an Oregon headquartered production company, and the principal cast & crew must be made up of at least 80% Oregon Residents.
Interactive media work & post-production-only work from Oregon-based companies also qualify for the L-OPIF program.
Oregon has additional incentive funding available to projects that are performing some or all of their production work in locations that are outside of a 30 mile zone drawn from Portland’s Burnside Bridge. Which is us down here in Southern Oregon!
This program, called the “Regional” Oregon Production Investment Fund (R-OPIF), adds additional incentives to all of Oregon’s other incentive programs for production work performed outside of Portland Metro.
There are two qualifying sections to the R-OPIF program.
1. Projects that are based entirely outside of Portland Metro for at least 50% + 1 day of their shoot. For projects that fall under #1, the R-OPIF program simply adds +10% on to whatever their OPIF or L-OPIF rebate amount is. So, by way of example, if a project is given a $500k OPIF rebate after audit and it has based its entire prep and shooting schedule outside of Portland’s 30 mile zone, then the R-OPIF program would add another $50,000 on to that rebate making the total OPIF + R-OPIF rebate amount $550,000.
2. Projects that are based within Portland Metro that have one or more shooting days on a “distant location” (i.e. a location that necessitates overnight accommodation, mileage and/or per diem payments and/or travel time and fuel reimbursement payments) outside of the 30 mile zone. For projects that fall under #2, the R-OPIF rebate reimburses the production for an “additional costs purely caused by work on a distant location” up to certain per projects caps ($200/person/day up to a maximum additional R-OPIF rebate of $10,000 per day and $50,000 per project). These “additional costs” include things like hotels, per diem, fuel and travel time. In other words, costs that would not have been incurred for a normal location within the Portland production zone. So, for example, if a feature film is shooting in Portland for 22 of its 24 day schedule but goes to the Oregon Coast for its last 2 days then the R-OPIF program would reimburse (at 100%) that project for costs that are directly associated with being on that Distant Location (e.g. hotels, per diem, travel time) up to a predetermined cap based on crew size and number of days on location. Let’s say this project had a crew of 60 people and a cast of 5 that it utilized for its distant location shoot. The R-OPIF program would reimburse (at 100%) the hotel costs for those two days up to $10,000 per day. That would be up to an additional $20,000 in rebates for those Distant Location shoot days.
Oregon Made Creative Foundation Grants
Oregon Film has partnered with the Charitable Partnership Fund (a 501[c][3]) to create a stand-alone non-profit foundation focused on providing opportunity and grants for #OregonMade creators. The Oregon Made Creative Foundation offers numerous grants, fellowships, and residencies for Oregon-based production professionals.
Recent funding opportunities have included grants for outdoor adventure filmmaking, a screenwriting residency, an animation apprenticeship, post-production finishing funds, a winter season grant, and the Portland Circuit distribution program.
For information on the latest grant opportunities, visit www.oregonmade.org.
Oregon Media Arts Fellowship
The Oregon Media Arts Fellowship(s) provide financial and other support for production expenses to enable Oregon film or video artists to create or complete new work or works in progress. The Media Arts Fellowship(s) recognize and assist media artists whose work shows exceptional promise and who have demonstrated a commitment to film or video art.
The Media Arts Fellowship program is funded by the Oregon Arts Commission and administered by the Northwest Film Center. For more information, visit www.oregonartscommission.org.