(a)General. — When used in this article, or in the administration of this article, terms defined in subsection (b) of this section have the meanings ascribed to them by this section, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context in which the term is used.
(b)Terms defined. —
“Commercial exploitation” means reasonable intent for public viewing for the delivery medium used.
“Direct production expenditure” means a transaction that occurs in the State of West Virginia or with a West Virginia vendor and includes:
(A) Payment of wages, fees, and costs for related fringe benefits provided for talent, management or labor that are subject to West Virginia income tax;
(B) Payment to a personal services corporation for the services of a performing artist if:
(i) The personal services corporation is subject to West Virginia income tax on those payments; and
(ii) The performing artist receiving payments from the personal services corporation is subject to West Virginia income tax; and
(C) Any of the following provided by a West Virginia vendor:
(i) The story and scenario to be used by a qualified project;
(ii) Set construction and operations, wardrobe, accessories, and related services;
(iii) Photography, sound synchronization, lighting, and related services;
(iv) Editing and related services;
(v) Rental of facilities and equipment;
(vi) Leasing of vehicles;
(vii) Food or lodging;
(viii) Airfare if purchased through a West Virginia-based travel agency or travel company;
(ix) Insurance coverage and bonding if purchased through a West Virginia-based insurance agent; and
(x) Other direct costs of producing a qualified project in accordance with generally accepted entertainment industry practices:Provided, That “direct production expenditure” shall not include depreciation of any item that has less than one full year of depreciable life.
“Eligible company” means a person or business entity engaged in the business of producing film industry productions. The term excludes state agencies.
“Feature length” means in excess of 40 minutes.
“Film industry production” means a qualified project intended for reasonable national or international commercial exploitation.
“Multi-state distribution” means reaching at least one other state besides West Virginia.
“Postproduction expenditure” means a transaction that occurs in West Virginia or with a West Virginia vendor after the completion of principal photography, including editing and negative cutting; Foley recording and sound effects; automatic dialogue replacement (also known as ADR or dubbing); special effects or visual effects, including computer-generated imagery or other effects; scoring and music editing; sound editing; beginning and end credits; soundtrack production; subtitling or addition of sound or visual effects; but not including an expenditure for advertising, marketing, distribution, or expense payments.
“Qualified project” means a feature length theatrical or direct-to-video motion picture, a made-for-television motion picture, a music video, commercial still photography, a television pilot program, a television series, and a television mini-series that incurs a cumulative amount of $50,000 in a calendar year in direct production expenditures and post-production expenditures in West Virginia or any combination of projects not previously claimed that would qualify for the credit except for cost, and that combined meets or exceeds the cumulative amount of $50,000 in a calendar year. The term excludes news or current affairs programming, a weather or market program, a talk show, a sporting event or show, an awards show, a gala, a production that solicits funds, a home shopping program, a program that primarily markets a product or service, political advertising, or a concert production.
A qualified project may be produced on any single media or multimedia program that:
(A) Is fixed on film, digital medium, videotape, computer disk, laser disc, or other similar delivery medium;
(B) Can be viewed or reproduced;
(C) Is not intended to and does not violate §61-8C-1et seq. of this code;
(D) Does not contain obscene matter or sexually explicit conduct, as defined by §61-8A-1et seq. of this code;
(E) Is intended for reasonable commercial exploitation for the delivery medium used whether delivery is in state or multi-state distribution; and
(F) Does not contain content that, in the sole discretion of the Office of Economic Development, negatively portrays the state of West Virginia.
“Tax Commissioner” means the West Virginia State Tax Commissioner or his or her designee.