A Missouri film tax credit is luring moviemakers to the state

Missouri gave moviemakers a close-up two years ago when it reenacted a dormant tax incentive for in-state filming, giving the state a little star power.

In early February, the Missouri Film Office and the Business Opportunities Division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development announced that 39 productions have qualified for the Show Mo Tax Credit Program. The productions spent an estimated $33.5 million and received nearly $12.4 million in production incentives in 2024.

The original 1999 tax credit program expired in 2013 and was reinstated 10 years later in 2023. “We lost a lot of ground in those 10 years,” says Andrea Klund, director of the Missouri Film Office. “We are still building and getting back to that place, working on production infrastructure now. A television series is what we want. We want to land a set-in-Kansas City show for the longevity that it brings.”

Any eligible state project, which is determined by a preliminary application by a production company, may receive a tax credit of at least 20 percent and up to 42 percent for qualifying expenses. With the added incentive of a 12 percent rebate from the Kansas City Film Development program for productions shot here, a local film project could get a total of 54 percent in production incentives.

“That 12 percent rebate gives us a slight edge over St. Louis,” Klund says. “In the past, a lot of the bigger productions came to St. Louis because the union crew base is mostly in St. Louis.”

Available incentives from the state are broken down to specific qualifying conditions. For instance, if at least 15 percent of the qualified motion media production takes place in a rural or blighted area of Missouri, the production company gets an additional 5 percent tax break.

The program offers a total of $16 million in incentives per year. It is slated to run through December 31, 2029. “To reauthorize the program, we have to demonstrate the economic impact,” Klund says. “And there is pending legislation to take the sunset off of the program because of infrastructure needs. It makes it hard for someone to build a business here. So if that cap comes off of the program, we are more likely to persuade a sound stage to be built in the Kansas City metro area.”

There have been other incentive programs in Arkansas and Texas that eventually ran into trouble, says Sasha Yelaun, the lead producer of the low-budget film Boris Is Dead that just wrapped in Kansas City.

“From what I’ve seen, the Missouri state program is one of the more competitive tax credit programs in the country,” Yelaun says. “It’s really well thought-out. And the fact that people are so resourceful here in Kansas City and helpful and just give you certain things you might not get in other cities—that is something that would drive producers from going to a place like California or New York. I feel like the open arms of Kansas City and Missouri have made it a very production-friendly area to migrate toward and move your productions to.”

Yelaun says he has shared his KC filming experience with other low-budget film producers working on low-budget films like his, focusing on the positive economic environment. “I’ve already got probably two or three different production companies that are really looking to get budgets done and bring their productions to Missouri,” he says.

As the word about the incentive program gets out, filmmakers everywhere are lining up. “We received far more inquiries from projects that are from all over the world now that we have these programs in place,” says Rachel Kephart, director of the KC Film Office. “In fact, two of the projects that shot here immediately came back. The producers of those projects brought their next production into Kansas City. So we already have repeat customers.”

Yelaun says filming in Kansas City was an easy decision. “The draw was definitely how competitive the incentive program is,” he says. “Shooting in Kansas City wasn’t a hard sell to my investors.”   

Movie Magic

Films shot using the Missouri tax incentive include 15 narrative feature films, four documentary feature films, two narrative shorts, two documentary shorts, nine unscripted TV series, one scripted TV series pilot, one animated TV series, four commercials and one web series. Here’s a sampling:

Boris Is Dead

Produced by Superfinger Entertainment and shot in Kansas City. Scheduled to premiere at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival in September.

The Motherhood 

Produced by Hallmark Media and shot in Kansas City. Series to premiere sometime this year on the Hallmark Channel.

The Possession at Gladstone Manor

Produced by Umbrelic Entertainment and shot in Kansas City. Premiered March 14, 2025, in Kansas City.

Girl in the Garage

Produced by Poke Productions for Lifetime and shot mostly in Kansas City and other Missouri locations. Premiered January 18, 2025.

Ozark Law

Produced by A&E and shot in the Lake of the Ozarks. Series premiered January 8, 2025.

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story

Produced by Hallmark Media and shot in Kansas City. Premiered November 30, 2024.

Second Chance Stage

Produced by Magnolia Network and shot in Kansas City. Series premiered on Max and Magnolia Network on November 28, 2024. 

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