The eyes of Hollywood turning to Kentucky for filming locations

Kentucky is known for it's beautiful landscapes, from the eastern hills and mountains to the picturesque horse farms and tracks. This is one of the reasons the Bluegrass State is becoming a hot spot for filming locations. In 2023 more than 60 projects were filmed here.

Tim Sabo is the studio manager at StudioLex in Lexington. He said many filmmakers are now aware of the incentives the state offers projects to locate here.

“They incentivize the entire crew, so you can bring your entire crew if you want and get 30% incentivization on all of that crew. Most don't do that, they bring the heads of departments, and then there's enough crew here, and we're building crew out every day.”

Sabo explained how the incentives work.

“In Kentucky it's a cash rebate, so they literally will just reimburse you for 30% of what was spent that qualifies for the incentive. Some states do it different, they do a taxes rebate where it's discounted and that type of stuff. Kentucky is doing it right and people are taking notice and they're coming here.”

Over 60 projects that filmed in Kentucky were approved for the Kentucky Entertainment Incentives. Many of those were feature films and television programs.

Hear more from LexStudio studio manager Tim Sabo later this week on Eastern Standard on WEKU.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.