An investment of $5 million aims to bring production crews and movie stars to Central New York.

“What we would hope is that $5 million would deliver multiple,” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said. “So an economic impact investment of five would hopefully would deliver a $15 to $25 million impact.”

He hopes the incentives will attract movies and other entertainment development.

The county is offering up to a 25% rebate for production crews that complete 70% of their work locally.

“Lodging, hotels, rooms, meals, our restaurants, transportation costs, construction sets, supplies and retail,” McMahon said. “These are all qualifying expenses.”

A bonus incentive of up to 5% more will be given to crews that hire locally, as well as underrepresented people, minorities and college students.

Films or TV shows with story lines that represent minority issues from a minority perspective can also qualify.

“We’re doing it because our hospitality and arts community and our restaurant community have been hurt drastically through the pandemic, and film drives room nights, it drives spending in those exact areas,” McMahon said.

New York state already offers movie production tax credits, but the county is looking to have a competitive edge over other areas in the state.

There is a yearly incentive cap of $300,000 for projects.