HI HB698

Increases motion picture and film production income tax credits from 15-20% to 20-25% of qualified production costs, depending on county population.

Adds a 5% work credit for qualified productions that film at least 50% of principal photography or 9+ consecutive TV episodes in Hawaii.

Adds a 10% infrastructure incentive credit for productions that build and film at qualified production facilities (minimum 1-2 weeks depending on budget).

Establishes a crew training and advancement program rebate covering 50% of hourly wages for qualified resident trainees (up to 900 hours per person), requiring minimum 5 trainees per production.

Introduces application fee requirement equal to 0.5% of production costs (capped at $75,000) to fund the training program and film commission, and raises the per-production tax credit cap from $8,000,000 to $25,000,000.

Sunsets on January 1, 2018.