We’re excited to share that qualifying commercials filming anywhere in Washington state are now eligible for funding through the Washington Filmworks Production Incentive Program. Commercial film productions can receive 30%-40% cash back on money spent in Seattle.
“This changes everything,” said Motion State’s Corey Koniniec, who noted that a recent commercial production filmed in another region because of the lack of this cost savings. Koniniec shared that he believes the additional 30%-40% savings will allow their production company to hire more local crew and vendors.
Washington Filmworks, the State Film Office and Film Incentive Program manager, announced that the update removes the previous Seattle filming restrictions. Informed by conversations with the statewide film community, including our office’s commercial film attraction and retention campaign, this change aims to attract more projects and jobs for our talented local cast and crew. Commercials can now earn 30% cash back with an additional 10% uplift for projects that film in rural Washington or tell the story of a historically underrepresented community.
Commercials are Seattle’s primary type of film production. Year to year, commercial productions make up half of the film permits our office coordinates. Seattle has an established commercial production sector, spanning from boutique studios to global agencies and media companies. This high-wage work is at the center of all film production happening in Seattle. This exciting incentive aligns with the City’s efforts to attract and retain more commercial work in Seattle while helping commercial productions stretch their dollar to bring and keep more work here.
Of the 240 film permits issued in 2024, 50% were for commercial productions. Forty-two percent of those were from production companies in the greater Seattle area, and 42% were from out-of-state productions. Our office coordinated 250 film permits to date in 2025. Filming occurred at 442 locations citywide, across 441 total shoot days, and hiring 2,845 local cast and crew.
Seattle has an extensive number of resources available to filmmakers of every experience level. Resources range from cast and crew directories, production stages and studios, post-production facilities, skilled industry workers, labor unions, educational institutions, and networking events.
Contact our Film Program at (206) 233-3948 or filmoffice@seattle.gov. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have. For more details about the commercial film incentive, visit Washington Film Works.
