Competition between states across borders causes the subsidies offered to rise as they compete to attract Hollywood projects, with more than $25 billion already invested in such offers, according to The New York Times.
Oklahoma has now joined the competition, offering enough funding to move Taylor Sheridan’s series, featuring Sylvester Stallone as a mob boss in an unfamiliar land, from its original location in Kansas City to a new area, where it became known as “Tulsa King.”
The key factor for “Tulsa King” was a $14.1 million refund for the Season 1 episodes filmed in Oklahoma City, as reported by The Times.
Oklahoma also spent over $4 million to attract Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and $12.8 million for FX’s popular comedy hit “Reservation Dogs.”
Another project receiving support from the Sooner State is the highly anticipated “Twisters,” show, which has 1.3 million square feet of production space in the former convention center of Oklahoma City. This follows the success of the original film “Twister,” which was also shot in Oklahoma.
“The only way that I lose is if we don’t have enough money to offer,” said Rachel Cannon, the founder of Prairie Surf Studios in Oklahoma City, where “Tulsa King” was filmed, in an interview with The Times.
Tulsa, Oklahoma is also the filming location for “Reservation Dogs” creator Sterlin Harjo’s new FX pilot “The Sensitive Kind,” starring Ethan Hawke.
Oklahoma's funding grew to around $30 million, prompting neighboring Texas to increase its efforts to attract productions by raising its incentive program’s funding to $200 million for the next two years, up from $45 million.
Texas also created a video featuring Texas-born stars such as Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Owen Wilson, and Glen Powell, urging residents to support more funding for television and film productions.
Oklahoma is now looking to raise its incentives again to $80 million, reflecting the trend of increasing subsidies as other states compete for productions, despite some studies indicating that such subsidies have a low return on investment.
For instance, New York recently expanded its film incentive program to $700 million per year from $420 million as neighboring New Jersey, which revived its incentive program in 2020 after putting it on hold for a few years, aims to attract a new Netflix studio to a dormant army base.
Altogether, 38 states have programs aimed at attracting film, television, and streaming productions, as reported by The Times, citing the Motion Picture Association. This includes one in Missouri, which was reinstated after the state missed out on the Netflix series “Ozark,” along with “Tulsa King.”
Ironically, Stallone will not return to Oklahoma City for filming the second season. The production has moved to Atlanta, where it can take advantage of Georgia’s unlimited tax incentive program.
