Tennessee seeks big shows with boosted TV incentive

Tennessee is not known as a US production hub but has hosted multiple seasons of Nashville (pictured), a TV drama set in the country music industry that’s named after the state capital.

The Nashville show spent $225m in the state over the course of its shoot, working out at around $55m a season, according to figures from the Tennessee Entertainment Commission (TEC).

State authorities wants more shows like it now that the series has come to an end.

“We want to replicate that two or three times over,” said the TEC in a statement.

“With these new incentives for scripted television series, we think Tennessee will be able to successfully recruit a new series and continue the strong momentum that Nashville and others helped jumpstart.”

Television series are often prioritised by regional film commissions over movies as they can shoot for potentially years at a time, feeding hundreds of millions into local economies.

California’s filming incentive has stirred controversy for this very reason. The state’s film fund was expanded a few years ago but most of the money is allocated to supporting new shows and to bringing series to the state that have previously been shot elsewhere in the world. As a result, California is being slow to build its appeal to big-budget studio features.