Cuyahoga County gives $160,000 to Cleveland Film Commission for operating support

CLEVELAND - On the heels of the much-anticipated The Avengers release, Cuyahoga County approved giving a $160,000 grant to the Greater Cleveland Film Commission on Monday.

The grant will support the economic development activities of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, which attracts motion-picture production investments to the Cleveland area and also prepares local residents to work on the movie productions.

"The Film Commission is the county's lead to attract the millions of dollars that this industry spends. Because of their efforts, productions like The Avengers and I, Alex Cross spent more than $80 million locally," said Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald. "Those projects could have happened almost anywhere. The Film Commission made them happen here."

According to a recent Cleveland State University Economic Impact Study, the non-profit Film Commission has delivered more than 900 local jobs in northeast Ohio and strengthened local business activity across a wide variety of industries from retail shops to union labor.

In 2011, the Film Commission attracted six major motion pictures to the area, including The Avengers; Boot Tracks, an independent film; Fun Size, a Paramount Pictures film; I, Alex Cross, a film based on James Patterson's best-selling book series; Liberal Arts, written and directed by Ohio native Josh Radnor; and the independent feature, Old Fashioned, to Cuyahoga County.

The Film Commission expects to have similar results in 2012.

Ohio and communities throughout the state have experienced increased interest in filming in their communities since the Ohio Film Tax Credit began in 2010; nearly 75 percent of the eligible film production in Ohio has taken place in Cuyahoga County.

Cuyahoga County made an economic development award in 2011 for the same amount.