SEATTLE — Before the tech boom in Seattle, it was home to grunge, artists and creative leaders in all industries.
The Seattle City Council is hoping to bring some of that back with the creation of a new film commission.
"A lot of people think of the 90s as the golden age of film in Seattle," said Amy Lillard who is the Executive Director of Washington Film Works.
The talent never left our area, but runaway productions sure did, choosing to head north to Canada or south to Oregon.
"These are our films, we did them. We should take pride in them and ownership and say this is the stuff we make," said Emmy Award-winning actor Tom Skerritt, who has been making movies for five decades.
The film commission will work to bring the industry back to the Seattle area.
"Seattle has to have a film commission to be taken seriously by producers who are looking for a location. Why? Because they want to see that government has skin in the game," said Seattle Councilmember Sara Nelson.
The 11-member commission will tell producers the city is serious about film while advising on policies and programs to attract the industry to the Seattle area. The vote is paired with the newly approved program offering 15 million dollars worth of tax incentives for film companies.
"Seattle is the largest production center in the state of Washington and they will certainly see an uptick in film permits and film projects episodic series coming," said Lillard.
While bringing the talent that's been here all along to the forefront.
"We have a very dark period in our country and the only way to best inform people is to inform them through the power of their imagination," said Skerritt.