THE AVENGERS to Shoot in Cleveland

The Greater Cleveland Film Commission announced this week, that the big Marvel team-up movie The Avengers will shoot parts of the production in Ohio, employing hundreds from the local film industry. Shooting begins April 2011 and runs through September.

Even though a majority of The Avengers is shooting in New Mexico, the film is also shooting in New York – which makes sense. But also shooting in Northeast Ohio, which is due mainly to the appeal of the state’s film tax credit incentive passed in July 2009. That, combined with the familiarity of the producers (who have worked in Cleveland before), made the decision pretty much a lock.

With so many other states seeing attrition in their film tax credit programs (Missouri, Kansas, Michigan…), could Ohio be the next “battleground state” for film productions, competing with New Mexico and Louisiana?

And with the Cleveland shooting dates running several months, it prompts several questions about the project. Will Cleveland be standing in for other locations (as Chicago did for Gotham City)? If a “majority” of the film is shooting in New Mexico, what could possibly take six months to shoot in Cleveland, if it’s not a major component of the film?

We’ll keep you posted.