Taxpayer-funded incentives, rebates fuel Oklahoma-made films

-- OK Film + Music Office cash rebates and incentives -- what to know

OKLAHOMA CITY — The past few years have seen a previously inconceivable wave of large-scale film productions and major league movie world players bringing projects – and more importantly, work – to the state at levels never before dreamed.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Lee Issac Chung’s “Twisters,” Taylor Sheridan and Sylvester Stallone’s “Tulsa King,” Sterlin Harjo’s “Reservation Dogs,” and plenty more have all shared the recently exploding interest in our state as a filmmaking location.

That’s not just because there’s something in the air in Oklahoma. It’s largely the direct work of the OK Film + Music Office inside the state’s Department of Commerce.

And the visually rich landscapes, expansive skies, and deep, unique cultural veins of our state aren’t the only things those productions all have in common, either.

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Killers of the Flower Moon Pawhuska Filming (photo by Apple and Oklahoma Film + Music Office, provided by Oklahoma Film + Music Office)

They’ve all benefited greatly from the state’s recently expanded filmmaking tax incentive, resulting in taxpayer-funded rebates totaling tens of millions of dollars among them.

But even though the incentive program has a deep-pocketed fund built in especially for much smaller, independent productions, a lot of local and indie filmmakers will tell you they have no idea where to start even trying to access that tax rebate. 

And that’s because – as a state-level government office – there’s still a bit of process and bureaucracy between any planned production and the tax rebate incentive that could help make it a reality.

So I sat down with Jeanette Stanton – OK Film + Music Office director since 2022 – to discuss a little history of the office, how the rebate program works, and how they score and approve the applications.

Film + Music Office history

Believe it or not, the Oklahoma Film and Music Office was actually established within the state’s Department of Tourism all the way back in 1979.

That might seem unexpected because there definitely didn’t appear to be any clear increase in Oklahoma-shot productions throughout the 80s or 90s, but Stanton said that’s because the office’s job back then was mainly just presenting the state’s locations and aesthetics without a major monetary incentive.

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Jeanette Stanton (provided by Oklahoma Film + Music office)

“The incentive program actually started in 2001 with just $150,000,” Stanton said. “So not really a lot back then.”

Over the years, the amount of tax rebate that could be offered annually was continuously increased, reaching into the millions in the 2010s and then skyrocketing with the Filmed in Oklahoma Act of 2021 that sought to kick the doors open for productions in the state.

“With the Filmed in Oklahoma Act, it was increased to $30 million,” said Stanton. “So that really gave us momentum, but it also really got the private sector involved, so now we have soundstages and investment and it’s really changed the landscape.”

But that $30 million annual total doesn’t mean that smaller indie productions are battling for rebate dollars with big studio blockbusters.

“There are actually two separate buckets of money,” Stanton explained. “One is for productions over $7.5 million, and the other is reserved for productions under $7.5 million. And that’s sort of a protection mechanism so that it doesn’t all get used for one or the other.”

Application + eligibility 

That’s not to say, however, that any small-scale production can get a piece of the rebate pie.

The very first requirement for applying to the program is a budget of at least $50,000.

That’s still a paltry amount compared to hundred-million-dollar projects like “Flower Moon” and “Twisters,” but it means that if you’re planning to shoot your very first indie feature with your friends in your backyard, you probably won’t be eligible for the rebate.

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Twisters (photo by Melinda Sue Gordon + Universal Pictures, provided by Oklahoma Film + Music Office)

But even once that $50,000 threshold is reached, there’s still a lengthy application process.

“The application is pretty intense,” Stanton said. “But you need to remember, this is taxpayer money, so we have to be very good stewards of that money.”

Each production’s application gets scored according to how it plans to utilize state resources, hire local cast and crew, and generate commerce and revenue within Oklahoma.

Stanton said that Film + Music Office staff will often go over the application personally with the applying filmmakers and that while a rejection likely won’t come with any detailed explanation, the applicant will already know which of their entries scored lowest.

At the end of the day, this really is a workforce program.

— Jeanette Stanton – OK Film + Music Office director

The application looks at everything from accolades (the more, the better) to funding (all funding must be secured before shooting) to distribution deals (having distribution in place means a higher score) to, crucially, how many locals will be hired.

“At the end of the day, this really is a workforce program,” Stanton said of the rebate. “Unfortunately, we’re not here to fund projects. Really, what we want to hone in on, and what the program is about, is the workforce.”

Payouts + productions

Though more than 30 other states also have tax incentive programs for filmmakers, Oklahoma stands out as one of the few to offer a direct cash rebate, meaning that after cast and crew are all paid, the state will pay back up to 30% of the film’s budget.

As the rebate is paid from public taxpayer funds, the amounts and recipients are listed on the OK Film + Music Office website at the end of each fiscal year.

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Killers of the Flower Moon (by Apple, provided by Oklahoma Film + Music office)

A look at that list shows a wide range of productions from the massive scale to the barely known.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” unsurprisingly reigns as the current largest recipient, employing over 1600 Oklahomans and receiving over $16 million across two major payouts in 2023 and 2024.

The largest single payout  – over $14 million – goes to the first season of “Tulsa King.” As longer shoots and ongoing television series generally score higher and warrant a higher rebate, the Stallone starrer received that payout with only 390 Oklahoma jobs, owing to its gigantic $64 million budget.

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Tulsa King (photo by Brian Douglas and Paramount+, provided by Oklahoma Film + Music Office)

Each season of “Reservation Dogs” (feature photo) saw a multi-million dollar rebate of its own with massive local crews.

Much of the rest of the list is admittedly populated by faith-based offerings and smaller-budget indies and actioners receiving more modest, sub-million dollar payouts, though there are a couple that stand out.

The notoriously fraught “Reagan” production saw a rebate payout of more $6 million all the way back in 2022 when the film was still struggling to find any distribution deal at all. That film’s production company – and the recipient of that payout – Toy Gun Films, has already received another $1.5 million rebate payout for “Reagan: The Early Years,” which currently appears to have no other presence or signs of life anywhere else online.

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Reagan (photo by Matthew Little + MJM Group, provided by Oklahoma Film + Music Office)

The John Rhys-Davies and Ted Levine-starring “Starbright” filmed all the way back in 2016 received a payout to the tune of $3.9 million in 2022 despite still not having any clear distribution and only now claiming an eyed 2025 release date.

No word yet on what kind of rebate “Twisters” will see, as it hasn’t been posted quite yet, but expect it to rank among the highest in the state’s history. And given that film’s success, I think it’s safe to expect a sequel sweeping through in coming years and enjoying an even larger rebate as well.

Good + bad

Stanton is quick to point out that, in all of those cases, the rebate was for the number of Oklahoma jobs created and the economic benefit generated for the state, not for the acclaim or reach of the film.

“Whether it’s a good script or a bad script, people are still getting employed,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of good stories get denied and a lot of bad stories get approved, but what’s ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ right?”

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Film Education Institute of Oklahoma Workshop at Prairie Surf Studios (photo by Nam Duong and FEIO, provided by Oklahoma Film + Music office)

Stanton told me that the goal of the state-level government office is not to pass judgment on the projects or promote films that will change or enlighten audiences’ views of Oklahoma. That might have been the office’s hope when it was under the Department of Tourism, but now that it’s part of the Department of Commerce, its goal is clear.

“We don’t feel like it’s our role to say if your project is good or bad,” she said. “We just want you to hire people.”


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Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.