Baltimore pitches itself as a home for filmmakers fleeing states worried about ‘woke’

Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina offer juicy tax incentives to entice film and television production crews to set up shop in their states. When Robyn Murphy tries to lure them to Baltimore, she pitches something new: politics.

The CEO of Create Baltimore, the city’s film and arts council, reminds studio heads and producers that some of their cast and crew are not welcome in other states warring with “woke” and politics important to the diverse creatives working on these productions.

Experts say financial incentives typically are the determining factor in where productions are shot, but some artists say they’re receptive to a pitch about a locale’s values.

Murphy focuses on what Maryland offers: It’s immigrant-friendly, has access to gender-affirming care, and supports Black leadership and historically Black colleges and universities.

“In Maryland, we are very clear, and in Baltimore, we are very clear that we don’t just want to profit off of artistry,” she said, “but we want to be a place where art is protected and artists are protected.”

Murphy likened it to the Jim Crow era when Black performers were expected to entertain or athletes who were expected to play in arenas but were not allowed to be guests there.

“What’s happening in our country is the modern version of that,” she said. “We are setting conditions that people are not allowed to live as artists in spaces, but you still want the art.

The delivery sometimes catches the decision-makers off-guard, Murphy said.

Director Chris Robinson, who wound up staying in the Baltimore area for three months after an initial visit, is now going to build his production company in the Charm City region instead of Atlanta.

“I want to be in this place. I want to bring something to it that I can live in my creative freedom,” he said.

A selling point was actually Mayor Brandon Scott, Murphy said.

“He said 20 years ago, ATL was luring people there and they had a dope-ass mayor who was like, ‘What can we do to make this a great space for y’all?’ He was like, ‘the dope mayor is in Baltimore now.’”

She said Robinson told her, “It’s only a matter of time before the tax credits follow.”

Maryland is outside the top tier of states when it comes to spending and jobs in television and film production.

There has been occasional peppering of Hollywood sparkle in recent years: “Lioness,” “Lady in the Lake,” and “The Baltimorons” were all filmed entirely or in part in Maryland, either because the story was set in the city or in light of the city’s proximity to Washington, D.C.

But it’s a far cry from the small screen and cinematic hits Maryland churned out in the 1990s and 2000s, such as “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “House of Cards,” “Runaway Bride,” “The Replacements,” and “Step Up.”

Then, the state and city had a reputation as an easy place to shoot with experienced local crew. But production fell off as other states offered more lucrative tax incentives and studios cut back on the lower budget movies that once filmed in Maryland, Baltimore magazine reported.

Murphy’s pitch is unique, said Jason Cherubini, executive in residence of finance at Loyola University Maryland’s business school.

“States and geographic regions really are fighting on tax credits and accessibility,” said Cherubini, who has executive produced more than 50 films. Cherubini said he’s filmed in Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Bogota, Colombia and Bulgaria in recent years.

“So it really is chasing where you get the best financial picture.”

But tax incentives, not politics, will be the tie-breaker if two different locations are really closely matched, he said.

Maryland’s film tax incentive is competitive, Cherubini said, but it’s capped at $12 million a year. One large Netflix or Amazon show “could suck up almost all of that budget.”

“And they’ll move up to New Jersey or down to Georgia or Oklahoma where they’re gonna get a similar tax credit in a state that doesn’t have that cap,” he said. The cap manages state spending on the incentives, which state legislative analysts have said have a low return on investment.

Kalen Allen, an actor with more than 2 million TikTok followers, is now moving to Baltimore from Los Angeles after recently completing a run of the comedy “Bocking” at Center Stage.

Murphy introduced him to people and neighborhoods and brought him to the Farmers’ Market.

“For her to champion and really fight for the people here that have just as much talent, I just found that to be very commendable,” Allen said.

Allen said he isn’t recruiting his fellow actors and creatives to join him in Charm City. He’s only encouraging those with Baltimore roots to return home.

“I believe that you have to stay places and you have to fight for them to be better,” Allen said.

Murphy made her Baltimore pitch to Robinson when she was convincing him to participate in Artscape last year.

He came away from his time in the city completely sold on the idea of building a Maryland studio that will also be used as a teaching studio to work with artists from the area.

Robinson said he wants to continue working with Murphy because that will ultimately lead to a studio being right in the center of Baltimore City.

Murphy said actress and director Lena Waithe recently told her in a conversation during a visit to Baltimore that artists want two things: to be heard and to work in safety.

“I think that it’s important,” she said, “that the people who are in charge of making film and making live art understand that you are going to a place that does not respect you as a person.”