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Minnesota Agencies

Information on Minnesota State Agencies, Boards, Task Forces, and Commissions

Compiled by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library


Minnesota Film and TV Board

Also known as:
Minnesota Film Board
Active dates:1983 -
Function:

Operates the Minnesota Film Production Jobs Program, with administrative oversight and control by the director of Explore Minnesota Tourism. The program shall make payment to producers of feature films, national television or Internet programs, documentaries, music videos, and commercials that directly create new film jobs in Minnesota.

History:

A push from DFL governor Rudy Perpich aimed to put grant money toward what was then called the "Minnesota Motion Picture and Television Board." The board has received state-funded appropriations every year since its inception in 1983. The funding represents 75 percent of the board's annual operations budget -- private investment matching makes up the rest.

In 1989 The Minnesota Motion Picture and Television Board changed its name to the Minnesota Film Board and named a new executive director.

In 1991 the Film Board dodged a budgetary bullet, it had been threatened with a funding phaseout in Governor Arne Carlson's proposed budget.

Snowbate is the Minnesota's Film and TV Board's Jobs Production Program (created 2006 Minn. Laws Chap. 282 Art. 11 Sec. 9a) . Snowbate is a reimbursement of 15% to 20% of Minnesota production expenditures. The incentive is available to feature films, national television or internet programs, commercials, music videos and documentaries.

Governor Pawlenty's 2010 Supplemental Budget Recommendation proposed cutting all operations funding for the MN Film & TV Board. The proposed reduction in funding for the Snowbate film production jobs program was to $525,000 from $1,225,000M in 2010 and elimination thereafter.

In 2012, the Film Board had $1 million in incentive money available as part of Legacy Amendment Funding. In 2013, the Board's Snowbate incentive program was increased to $10 million ($5,000,000 each year from the general fund for a grant to the Minnesota Film and TV Board for the film production jobs program under Minnesota Statutes, section 116U.26).

Agency heads:

Melodie Bahan, Executive Director (June 2017 - )

Internet resource:
Note: The Legislative Reference Library may have additional reports on or by this group available through our catalog.
Documents/Articles:
Lights, camera, tax credit! Bill aims to entice more filmmakers to shoot in Minnesota. Session Daily, 3/10/2023.
'Jingle all the way' at 25: An oral history of Minnesota's critical dud turned holiday classic. Racket, 12/8/2022.
A brief history of MN Film & TV (with some context), April 2020.
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 1989-2020.
Record last updated: 05/10/2022
 

All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.

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