The State Now Lists All Seven Oct. 21 Projects as Approved. Its Report Shows $15,006,620 Left for 2026.

The Cabinet for Economic Development updated its Kentucky Entertainment Incentive approvals report for 2026 on October 21. It lists all seven projects from that day’s Kentucky Film Leadership Council meeting with an approval date of October 21: Return of the Living Dead ($2,892,048), Bob ($843,716), The Long Run ($722,532), Rear Ended Episodes 3-10 ($664,370), Singleton Style ($578,266), Oscar Shaw 2 ($311,994) and Bel Air Kiss ($71,863). Those seven add up to $6,084,789, the same total the board book proposed. The report now lists 88 approvals for 2026, $64,113,996 requested against the $75,000,000 cap, $4,120,616 recaptured and $15,006,620 available. It is the first update to the report since June 25. Signed minutes for the October 21 meeting are not posted yet.

The Oct. 21 Film Council Book Lists Seven KEI Projects and $6,084,789 in Proposed Incentives. No Minutes Posted Yet.

The Cabinet for Economic Development has posted the board book for the Kentucky Film Leadership Council meeting of October 21, 2026. Seven projects are listed: Bob (Fayette and Bourbon), Bel Air Kiss (Jefferson), Oscar Shaw 2 (Jefferson), Rear Ended Episodes 3-10 (Hopkins), Singleton Style (Fayette), The Long Run (Jefferson) and Return of the Living Dead (eight counties, including Fayette and Jefferson). Return of the Living Dead lists the highest anticipated Kentucky qualified spend of the seven at $8,801,449, a total eligible tax incentive of $2,892,048, and production dates of Oct. 26, 2026 to Jan. 15, 2027. The report shows $58,761,582 approved so far in 2026 against the $75,000,000 cap and $4,120,616 in recaptured funds. The CED page does not yet show minutes for the October 21 meeting, so this card did not say which projects were approved. Update Oct. 26, 2026: the state’s 2026 approvals report, updated October 21, now lists all seven as approved on October 21 for the same $6,084,789 total, and shows $15,006,620 still available.

The Sept. 16 Film Council Minutes Show All Nine KEI Projects Approved. T17 Aries Is Contingent on Sworn Statements.

Updated Oct. 21, 2026. The Cabinet for Economic Development has now posted the minutes for the Kentucky Film Leadership Council meeting of September 16, 2026. Nine projects were on the agenda: T17 Aries (Butler County), Kertis Creative, Lacys Mom (Hopkins), Dominion Film (Fayette), Gasoline Filmed Entertainment (Fayette and Jefferson), Appalachia Vision, Saving Snoopy (Jefferson), TenXTen (Jefferson) and Alpha Uno (Fayette). The minutes record motions to approve for all nine, each passing without opposition. T17 Aries was tabled first, then taken back up and approved contingent on counsel and the Film Office obtaining sworn statements from T17 Aries LLC, council member Jeremy Winton and a representative of GR Services LLC about how GR Services came to be engaged during the meeting. The board book showed $54,211,039 approved so far in 2026 against the $75,000,000 cap, $4,120,616 in recaptured funds, and a $24,909,577 balance going into the meeting. Two of the nine listed more than $1 million in eligible incentive in the book: Dominion at $1,211,779 and Pact of the Party at $1,149,990.

Chili’s Shot a Snooki Commercial in Florence, Kentucky to Launch a New Sandwich

Chili’s released a commercial with Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of “Jersey Shore” that was filmed in Florence, Kentucky. It launched the Chicken Parm Big Crispy on October 13 at Chili’s locations in Florence, Rome, Georgia and Venice, Florida, with nationwide availability starting October 20. MediaPost reports the spot shows Polizzi touring Florence, including a mall, a water park, a flower shop and a water tower. WCPO reports Florence Mayor Julie Metzger Aubuchon saw the ad and said she loves it. Chili’s says the first 150 guests at each of the three locations got a commemorative plate.

Lawmakers Put the KEI Rules on Their October 13 Review Agenda. The Film Council Votes on New Projects Eight Days Later.

The October 1 Administrative Register lists both versions of 307 KAR 1:080, the regulation that runs the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive, on the tentative agenda for the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee. The subcommittee is scheduled to meet October 13 at 1 p.m. ET in Room 149 of the Capitol Annex in Frankfort. On the list are the emergency version as amended after comments, in force since September 15, and the ordinary version filed with it. The subcommittee’s own September 9 minutes, printed in the same Register, show the emergency rule was deferred or removed from that meeting, so October 13 is the first date legislators are scheduled to take it up. At these meetings a regulation can be approved, amended with the agency’s agreement, or deferred again. The Kentucky Film Leadership Council’s next scheduled meeting to vote on KEI applications is October 21 at 11 a.m. ET.

“The Spiral Down” Has Started Shooting in Kentucky. The State Approved It for a $217,855 Incentive on $641,510 of Kentucky Spend.

Deadline reported October 1 that the psychological thriller “The Spiral Down” has started principal photography in Kentucky. Aaron Mirtes directs from a story by Neil Marshall. Charlotte Kirk stars and produces with Karlos Ways and Alessandra Williams, and the cast includes Costas Mandylor, Michael Paré, Mike Ferguson, Adam Tsekhman and Matthew Fahey. The Kentucky Film Leadership Council approved Spiral Down Film, LLC for the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive on August 5. The state’s report on the project lists $641,510 in projected Kentucky qualified spend, an eligible incentive of $217,855, and a crew of 32, with 20 of them Kentucky residents. It lists production in Breckinridge, Bullitt, Daviess, Hancock, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby and Spencer counties, with a window that runs as late as February 28, 2027.

Kentucky’s Film Office Director Says the $75 Million Cap Will Probably Run Out This Year. The State’s Public Scoreboard Still Shows Half of It Open.

Kentucky Film Office Executive Director Meg Fister told the Kentucky Lantern on September 28 that the state will probably hit its $75 million annual KEI cap for the first time this year. She and Senate President Robert Stivers both said raising or removing the cap would help grow the industry. Fister said the Cabinet for Economic Development has tracked more than 300 productions and more than $800 million in Kentucky spending since 2022. The Film Office’s own website, filmkentucky.org, lists 270+ productions incentivized, $795 million spent in Kentucky and 27,000+ jobs created (2022 to present). The state’s own approvals report tells a different story on paper. It lists 59 approvals through June 25 totaling $38.5 million requested, with $37.3 million still shown as available. Nothing approved after June 25 has been added, including the 13 projects the council passed August 5. Update Oct. 26, 2026: the state updated the report on October 21. It now lists 88 approvals, $64,113,996 requested and $15,006,620 available. The same Lantern piece reports that companies connected to council members Misdee Wrigley Miller and Jeremy Winton are in line for up to $6.5 million and $1.8 million. Both recuse. Miller said her role is deficit financing, advancing money against the expected credit for small productions, and that she takes no incentive funds personally. Kentucky FREE president Andrew McNeill said the arrangement “doesn’t pass the smell test” and opposes any cap increase.

Louisville Named Eight Kentucky Director-Producer Teams for Its October Film Lab. It Closes With a Pitch Session for Investors.

502 Film, the group behind the Louisville Film Office, announced the second 502 Film Front Porch Film Lab cohort on September 24. Eight Kentucky teams, each a director and a producer, will spend October 11 through 23 in Louisville developing short narrative scripts. Each team gets housing and a $1,500 stipend. The four mentors are director Jennifer Arnold (American Horror Story, P-Valley), Sundance story editor Ruth Atkinson, GRX Immersive Labs founder Alton Glass and producer Effie Brown (Real Women Have Curves, Dear White People). Each mentor will also teach a free 90-minute master class open to Louisville’s creative community. Dates for those have not been announced. The lab ends with a live pitch to local investors and arts supporters. Applicants had to be Kentucky residents, so the full cohort is in-state talent.

The Permanent KEI Rule Set for a Hearing in Frankfort Today Is Still the July Text. None of the Five September 15 Changes Are in It.

The ordinary amendment to 307 KAR 1:080 — the version that replaces the emergency rule and becomes permanent — was set for a public hearing this morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern in the Mayo Underwood Building in Frankfort. The notice allowed the hearing to be canceled if no one asked to attend, and we have not confirmed it was held. The LRC record for that version still reads approved by agency July 15, 2026 and filed with LRC July 15, 2026 at 11:15 a.m. It has not been touched since. Read side by side against the current emergency text today, the ordinary version contains none of the five changes the Cabinet made on September 15: no Kentucky-vendor exception for out-of-state gear, no Teamsters in the above-the-line comparables, no $1 billion market-cap carve-out on the financing letter, no 25 million subscriber definition of a distribution contract — and the sentence disqualifying an entire claimed expenditure for failing to itemize non-qualifying costs is still in it. This page has described the two versions as carrying identical language since August. As of September 15 that is no longer accurate, and written comments close September 30.

Congress Is Drafting a 20 Percent Federal Film Credit That Would Stack on Kentucky’s 35. Six Members Founded a Caucus to Push It, and None of Them Are From Kentucky.

Variety reported Sept. 8 that members of Congress are drafting a federal film and television incentive worth 20 percent of all labor costs, above the line and below. The draft carries four uplifts worth 5 percent each, of which a producer can claim two, for a ceiling of 30 percent. One of those four is filming in a rural opportunity zone. The other three are making an independent production, bringing a set amount of filming back to the United States from abroad, and spending at least $10 million across ten different states in a year. Eligible work includes features, scripted television, reality and animation, but not news or sports. The federal credit would not be refundable. A producer would use it against federal income tax or sell it to another taxpayer. Variety reported it would stack on top of state programs, putting a total subsidy at 60 percent or more depending on where the production shoots. On Sept. 16, Deadline reported that six House members founded the Congressional American Film & TV Production Caucus to push the credit through: Brian Jack (R-GA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY). “We need to keep that going and keep American storytelling in America,” Moran said. No Kentucky member is on that list. Update Oct. 6, 2026: the bill, the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, was introduced in Congress on Sept. 24, 2026.

A Council Member Left the Room for Five of Kentucky’s 13 August Film Approvals. All Five Shoot Fayette.

The Cabinet posted the Kentucky Film Leadership Council’s August 5 minutes on September 17, six weeks after the meeting. They are the first public record of how the 13 August KEI approvals were voted. Council member Misdee Wrigley Miller disclosed an interest in five of the applicants: Evermore Productions, Airways Productions, Helix Productions, Icestone Productions and Copperline Productions. Under the council bylaws she stayed out of the discussion and left the room while those five were heard. All five list Fayette County, Icestone adds Powell and Copperline adds Jefferson. The minutes do not say what her interest is. Chair Soozie Eastman separately put on the record that 502 Film, where she serves as president, is associated with Copperline, receives no compensation and has no creative say, and that she does not see a conflict. Every one of the 13 passed without opposition. Steve Zahn was absent and Jeremy Winton was sworn in for a new term.

Three Features Shot Around Glasgow This Summer. Only One Has Been Named, and It Is the Barren County Project Kentucky Approved in May.

MacLean Lessenberry, executive director of Glasgow-Barren County Tourism and president of the Southern Kentucky Film Commission, told The Lane Report on Sept. 16 that three feature films shot in and around Glasgow this summer. He has only been cleared to name one of them: “I Wish I Never Had Sex with Him,” a romantic comedy starring Madelaine Petsch with Noah Fearnley, Chet Hanks and Brett Dier. Deadline reported on Sept. 1 that Voltage Pictures is running worldwide sales on that picture at the Toronto International Film Festival, and that Korean company Aanaxion Studio produced and financed it with Ambitious Entertainment, with Bespoke Production Capital supplying tax-credit financing. That connects straight back to Kentucky’s own record. The KEI approvals scoreboard already carries an AANAXION project cleared May 8 for $3.35M in potential credits, shooting in Barren County, filed under the working title “I Never Should Have Slept with Him.” Same company, new title. Brian Skiba, a credited producer on Deadline’s list, returned to the Glasgow area for this summer’s work, according to the Lane Report. “The economic return from film production in Glasgow is significant,” Lessenberry said. Local venues absorbed the work: Highland Social in downtown Glasgow was rented for three full days as a location. Lessenberry was direct about what the commission is not. It pays no production expenses and offers no local cash incentive. What it sells is location scouting, background casting and logistics. Final economic figures for the Glasgow shoot have not been released.

Kentucky Refiled the KEI Emergency Rules on the Deadline. Out-of-State Gear Bought Through a Kentucky Vendor Now Counts, and $1B Studios Skip the Escrow Letter.

The Cabinet for Economic Development filed an amended 307 KAR 1:080E with the Legislative Research Commission on Sept. 15 at 10:45 a.m., signed by Secretary Jeff Noel and approved by the agency the day before. The LRC record now carries it as “Emergency Amended After Comments,” effective the same day. This is the document the Sept. 1 entry on this page told you to watch for. It is the Cabinet’s written answer to the comments taken at the Aug. 24 hearing and through the Aug. 31 written window, and it landed on the deadline. Five things changed against the July 15 text. Out-of-state goods, equipment and tangible assets used to be flatly disqualified. They now qualify if the purchase runs through a Kentucky vendor and the item is the type that vendor normally holds in inventory in the ordinary course of business. The sentence disqualifying an entire claimed expenditure for failure to separately itemize non-qualifying items is gone, and so is the rule limiting out-of-state vendors to on-set services only. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is now named alongside DGA, WGA and PGA as an acceptable source of comparative rates when you document above-the-line payroll. The 50 percent escrow requirement stayed, but the bank letter now has to show that half the financing is obtained or available through a credit facility at that institution, and the letter may be conditioned on council approval as long as it commits the funds once the council signs off. An applicant with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more, or owned directly or indirectly by one, satisfies that whole requirement with a letter from a corporate officer instead. And the distribution scoring criterion, which used to just favor “the presence of a distribution contract,” now spells out the bar: a streaming service with at least 25 million U.S. domestic subscribers, a cable network available in at least 25 million U.S. households, a U.S. commercial broadcast network, or a contract for worldwide theatrical distribution.

Owensboro’s “New Fears Eve” Is Getting a Sequel. Full Production Is Aimed at 2027 and Nothing Is Crewed Yet.

Owensboro filmmaker PJ Starks told The Owensboro Times on Sept. 9 that he and Eric Huskisson are developing a second “New Fears Eve,” the horror comedy slasher they shot in Owensboro. Jeffrey Reddick, who created the “Final Destination” franchise, is back on the project. Reddick lives in Los Angeles but is from Breathitt County, and he played Norman Perkins in the first film after he asked Starks to find him a role. “Now we are working on moving forward on the sequel,” Starks said. The picture is early. There is no title and no full cast. Starks said he wants full production to start next year, which puts a release in late 2027 or early 2028. The story picks up directly from the first film’s cliffhanger, so the look, the locations and the returning cast are already established in western Kentucky. Note what this is and what it is not. It is a Kentucky owned property heading into its second installment in the same town, with a director who has already delivered one distributed feature there. It is not a financed start date. No budget, no KEI application, no stage or vendor commitments have been announced, and none of that appears in any public filing yet.

Paris Has Two More Films Booked for This Fall. That Puts Bourbon County at Five Shoots in Six Months.

Betty Ann Allen, tourism director for Paris and Bourbon County, told WKYT on Aug. 31 that two films were shooting back to back in the county at that time, and that two more are expected in Paris and Bourbon County this fall. WKYT put the six month total at five films in the area. That is a forward booking number, not a wrap report. Allen said the county is chasing more: “We have our fingers crossed that we can attract more and more movies.” Spectrum News reported the same week that Allen and Lisa Brin of FilmLEX handled the logistics coordination for the Great American Family shoot in downtown Paris, so a producer coming into Bourbon County has two named local contacts who have already run a network shoot through the town. One caution before you budget anything. WKYT wrote that the state offers 30 percent and that “Paris offers another 5 percent on top of that.” KYFilm could not verify a Paris or Bourbon County local film rebate from any city, county or state source. Treat the 5 percent as an unconfirmed press claim and get it in writing from Paris-Bourbon County Tourism before it goes in a budget.

Paris Just Hosted Its Second Great American Family Movie of the Year. A Bench Warrant Served on Set Is What Made It National News.

Great American Family has been shooting “The Greatest Christmas Gift of All” in downtown Paris, a nearly two week shoot that LEX 18 reported was close to wrapping on Aug. 31 and was still running on Sept. 3. It is the second Great American Family movie Paris has hosted this year, after “Silver Bells” shot there in April. Danica McKellar and Matthew Marsden star, and it airs Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. on Great American Family and GFAM+, streaming the same day on Great American Pure Flix. McKellar told LEX 18 the town needs almost no dressing: “We just have to add Christmas decorations and boom, you got a Christmas movie.” LEX 18 also reported filmmakers are pointing to the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive, the fully refundable 30 to 35 percent credit, as the reason more productions are picking Kentucky. The set drew national coverage on Sept. 3, when the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office arrested former Gov. Matt Bevin there on an outstanding Jefferson County bench warrant out of his child support case, according to Kentucky Public Radio. Bevin was reportedly working as an extra. Nothing in the reporting puts the production itself at issue.

The State Got Comments on the Emergency KEI Rules. Its Written Response Is Due Sept. 15, and Subcommittee Review Just Slipped to October.

The September Administrative Register of Kentucky, published today by the Legislative Research Commission, is the first official record of what came out of the Aug. 24 public hearing on 307 KAR 1:080E, the emergency amendment governing the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive program. The Register lists the regulation under the Cabinet for Economic Development, Kentucky Film Office, with the notation “Comments Received; SOC due 09-15-2026.” Under KRS 13A, that means the Cabinet has to file a written statement of consideration answering every comment by Sept. 15. It also means the regulation was pulled off the Sept. 8 Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee agenda and now sits in the section titled “Regulations Removed from September’s Agenda,” so legislative review moves to a later meeting. The emergency rules stay in force the whole time. The Register carries an expiration of April 11, 2027 for the emergency version, and the identical ordinary amendment is still running its own track with a Sept. 21 hearing and a written comment window closing Sept. 30.

Versailles Is One of 25 Towns in the Running to Host a Hallmark Movie Shoot. Public Voting Closes Sept. 4.

Versailles, in Woodford County west of Lexington, has been named one of 25 finalists in Hallmark Channel’s Merriest Christmas Towns contest. One of them gets more than a title: under the contest rules the grand prize includes serving as the filming location for a future Hallmark movie. Public voting opened Aug. 14 and runs through Sept. 4, one vote per verified email per day, and a Hallmark judging panel makes the final call on community spirit, holiday traditions, neighborhood charm and goodwill.

Kentucky Has Published KEI Application Deadlines Through December 2027. If You Want 2026 Money, Your Next Filing Window Closes Sept. 18.

The Kentucky Film Office and the Cabinet for Economic Development have both posted the full Incentive Approval Timeline, pairing every KEI application deadline with the Kentucky Film Leadership Council meeting that acts on it. Applications close at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, and the council votes about five to seven weeks later. The Aug. 7 deadline has already closed and feeds the Sept. 16 council meeting. That leaves two filing windows that can still reach a 2026 approval: Sept. 18 for the Oct. 21 meeting, and Oct. 23 for the Dec. 9 meeting. The calendar then runs bimonthly through Jan. 19, 2028.

The KEI Rules Running Right Now Are Temporary. There Is a Second Comment Window and It Closes Sept. 30.

The emergency amendment to 307 KAR 1:080 that took effect July 15 is not the final rulebook. Kentucky filed an identical ordinary amendment the same day, and the Legislative Research Commission record states the emergency version “will be replaced by an identical ordinary administrative regulation.” That leaves two separate public hearings and two separate comment windows on the same KEI rules. The emergency version is heard Aug. 24 with comments open through Aug. 31. The ordinary version, the one that sticks, gets its own hearing Sept. 21 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern in Frankfort, with written comments accepted through Sept. 30.

Kentucky Approves 13 More Productions at the Aug. 5 KFLC Meeting. $14.9M in New Credits, $21.6M Still Available.

The Kentucky Film Leadership Council approved 13 productions at its August 5, 2026 meeting, committing $14,943,302 in new Kentucky Entertainment Incentive credits. Two Christmas features, “The Greatest Gift of All” and the untitled “12th Christmas Movie,” are set to shoot in Bourbon and Fayette counties this fall, both distributed by GAC Media. Five more list Fayette County: true-crime series “Bodycam Crimes” and features “Moon People” and “The Quiet Place” list Fayette only, “Reset” lists Fayette and Powell, and “Moon Bandits” lists Fayette and Jefferson.

Kentucky Filed an Emergency Regulation Putting SB 324 Into Practice, Effective July 15. New KEI Application, Fee Schedule and Audit Rules Are Live.

The Cabinet for Economic Development filed an emergency amendment to 307 KAR 1:080 with the Legislative Research Commission on July 15, and it took effect the day it was filed. This is the rulebook that actually runs SB 324 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 194, secs. 2–6) — eligibility, the application, approvals, certified audit and fees. A new July 2026 KEI application form replaces the September 2025 version, and the regulation adds Certified Audit Guidelines that had no prior version, so the paperwork producers were using is now out of date. An identical ordinary amendment was filed the same day; a public hearing is set for August 24 in Frankfort, with written comments open through August 31.

Producer read: if you are applying to KEI, the paperwork changed on July 15. Budget three fees on top of your spend — a nonrefundable application fee of $250, $500 or $1,000 depending on qualifying spend, an administrative fee of 0.5% of the credit you are asking for (minimum $500), and $2,000 for preparing the incentive agreement. Approvals for all applicants in a single quarter are now capped at 25% of the annual credit cap — roughly $18.75M against the current $75M — with unused room carrying to the next quarter; the council can approve more for larger projects when the economic analysis supports it. The economic analysis openly favors a higher share of Kentucky spend, a higher share of below-the-line crew costs, a higher share of Kentucky residents, heritage counties, and fully secured funding. Pull the July 2026 application; the September 2025 form is dead.

SB 324 Took Effect July 15. Video Games, Music Videos and Commercials Now Qualify for KEI — And Unused Cap Finally Rolls Over.

The statute behind the regulation took effect July 15. Senate Bill 324 — now 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 194, sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers — passed the Senate 36-0 and the House 80-15, and the Governor signed it April 23. Attorney General Russell Coleman’s opinion fixed the start date: the session adjourned April 15, the 90th day fell July 14, so the law went live July 15. Four changes matter to a budget. Eligible productions now include video games, music videos and commercials. Any unallocated balance of the $75 million cap now carries into the next calendar year for high-impact motion pictures, continuous film productions and entertainment productions, starting with calendar year 2026. The spend floors moved: an out-of-state company now needs $400,000 in combined qualifying expenditures and payroll, up from $250,000, while a Kentucky-based company needs $200,000. Commercials are set at $200,000, a national touring Broadway production at $20,000, and a documentary at $10,000 for a Kentucky-based company or $20,000 for an out-of-state company. Filming has to begin within 180 days of approval, and a certified audit is due within 180 days of wrap.

Producer read: this is the law; the emergency regulation filed the same day is the paperwork. Read them together. The 180-day start clock is the one that bites — an approval is no longer something you park while financing catches up. The higher floors quietly push out the smallest out-of-state jobs, and the $20,000 Broadway and $10,000 documentary tiers stay where the door is widest. The carryforward is the real prize: unused cap no longer dies on December 31, so a slate that straddles two years is finally worth planning. And if you shoot commercials, music videos or game cinematics, Kentucky belongs on your list now.

“All That Glitters at Christmas” Films in Maysville. Faith-Based Rom-Com Stars Greer Grammer and Tom Cavanagh.

Maysville’s cobblestone Market Street has doubled as “Forest Glen” for nearly two months while producers and directors from California, Washington, Tennessee and Georgia shoot “All That Glitters at Christmas,” a faith-based holiday rom-com. Location scout Alan Forbes said Maysville beat Paris, Elizabethtown and Shelbyville for the gig. Main Street director Caroline Reece estimates nearly $300,000 in local economic impact. Filming wraps July 3.

Kentucky Approves 12 More Productions at the June 25 KFLC Meeting. $6.4M in New Credits, $37.3M Still Available.

The Kentucky Film Leadership Council approved 12 more productions for state tax credits at its June 25 meeting — the latest in a run of 2026 approvals. The slate runs across features, TV programs, and documentaries shooting in Woodford, Shelby, McCracken, Barren, Hart, Fayette, Scott, Hopkins, Warren, Jefferson, Anderson, Boone, Bourbon, Campbell, Clark and Madison counties, led by “Debutantes” ($1.87M, McCracken), “Out of the Ashes” ($1.93M, Barren/Hart), and “Northbound” ($1.36M, Fayette/Scott/Woodford). The new approvals total roughly $6.4 million in potential refundable credits. Of the $75 million calendar-year cap, $37.3 million is still available for the rest of 2026.

Producer read: Kentucky is clearing a fresh slate of projects every month and still has just under half its $75M annual cap open with six months left in 2026. Most approved budgets sit in the indie-to-mid range, and counties from Paducah (McCracken) to the Bluegrass are landing work — the incentive has room and is moving fast.

Horror Thriller “Debutantes” Starts Filming July 8 in Paducah. KEI-Backed Production Shoots Across McCracken, Graves, and Marshall Counties.

Writer-director Stephen Meier brings his 15-year passion project to western Kentucky: “Debutantes” follows a group of southern debutantes who turn their gala night into a hunt for the men who assaulted one of their own. KFLC approved the production at its June 25 meeting for $1.87M in potential credits. Meier chose Kentucky for its tax incentives and because he wanted to film a southern story in the South. Paducah Mayor George Bray has offered city support. Filming runs July 8 through August 6 in Paducah, Calvert City and Graves County.

Indie Slasher “RUN” Is Set to Shoot in Northern Kentucky. Newport Locations, Extras Casting Now.

Northern Kentucky filmmakers NKY Films and Mediatrix Films are preparing to shoot “RUN,” a horror-comedy slasher written and directed by Ricky Glore, shooting on real Newport locations including a local bowling alley. Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Gary Kroeger executive produces, and the production is casting local extras now. It is the team’s latest indie feature, funded through a $15,500 Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign. Kroeger on the region: “You can do it right there in Kentucky.”

Producer read: Another indie production is rolling in Kentucky outside the major metros — the state’s pipeline now reaches Northern Kentucky’s blue-collar river towns. Real Newport locations and an SNL-veteran EP show that small- and mid-budget genre films can mount, fund, and cast quickly in the Cincinnati-adjacent Kentucky market.

Kentucky Film Office Is Building a New Online Application System and Production Database. Owensboro Named a Key Hub.

Kentucky Film Office executive director Meg Fister visited Owensboro this week, calling it one of the state’s major filmmaking hubs and meeting with State Rep. Suzanne Miles and the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. Fister said the office is launching a new website, online application system, and production database to make Kentucky’s incentive programs more transparent and easier for producers to access. She pointed to the Kentucky Sound Stage — editing suites, adaptable sets, and one of the state’s largest LED volume walls — as a mid-budget facility built for independent productions, with a new TV series expected to film there later this summer. Fister: “Kentucky should be king of independent filmmaking.”

Producer read: Kentucky is standardizing how productions apply for the incentive and find crew and locations — one online system and a statewide production database, due from the Film Office. For producers weighing the state, that means faster intake and clearer access, with a right-sized Owensboro soundstage already online and a streaming outlet launching in November.

Just Do GOOD Entertainment Picks the Lexington Region for “Finding Kindness.” Cameras Roll in August.

Just Do GOOD Entertainment — co-founders and executive producers Monty Hobbs and Valerie Smaldone — has chosen the Lexington, Kentucky region, filming in Winchester, to shoot new episodes of its Telly and Davey Award-winning series “Finding Kindness,” with cameras set to roll in August. Much of the production will run out of The Winchester Cafe, a new downtown Winchester destination opening this summer, in association with The Bluegrass Syndicate. The episodes aim to capture Kentucky’s landscapes and small-town community stories. Hobbs: “We can’t wait to start rolling camera in August.”

Producer read: another series choosing the Lexington region — episodic work with a local production partner and a built-in downtown base.

Motion Picture Association Names Senate President Robert Stivers a 2026 Industry Champion. The Award Cites His Film-Incentive Leadership.

The Motion Picture Association will present Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) with its 2026 Industry Champion Award, recognizing his leadership on the legislation that modernized the state’s film incentive. The Kentucky Film Leadership Council itself was created by 2025’s Senate Bill 1. The Lane Report said the honor goes to leaders who help strengthen the creative community. Stivers will accept it later this year at the MPA Awards ceremony at the association’s Washington, D.C. headquarters.

Producer read: when the Senate President is the one being honored by the MPA for film policy, the incentive program has backing at the highest level of state government. That is the kind of stability a production wants to see before committing a multi-year slate to Kentucky.

Kelsey Grammer Joins “Ethan Almighty,” Now Shooting in Bardstown. He Plays Kentucky’s Governor.

Deadline broke it exclusively June 8: six-time Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) has joined “Ethan Almighty,” the feature shooting in Bardstown, Kentucky. He plays the Governor of Kentucky. Grammer joins Sean Patrick Flanery, Selma Blair, Brandon Routh, Trevor Donovan and Finley Slater in the film written, directed and produced by Tané McClure, with lead producer Michelle Alexandria for Light Year Pictures. The story is pure Kentucky: Ethan, a dog left for dead in 2021, recovered in the care of the Kentucky Humane Society and helped drive passage of House Bill 258 in 2024, making animal torture a Class D felony. Hollywood Expansion Corporation and Arclight Films picked up worldwide rights in May. Alexandria on Grammer: “His presence brings strength, compassion, and leadership.”

Producer read: a national cast (Grammer, Blair, Flanery, Routh) on a Bardstown shoot, with worldwide sales attached mid-production and a Deadline exclusive covering it. Kentucky stories are carrying their own features now, and the talent pipeline reaches well past Louisville and Lexington.

Steve Zahn Just Made The Case For Kentucky-Shot Family Cinema. He And His Daughter Star in It.

Steve Zahn co-wrote and stars in “She Dances,” and his daughter Audrey Zahn co-stars. The Zahns live on a farm in Midway, Kentucky, and the film was shot in Kentucky, including Midway. Audrey’s real mom is in the movie. Her brother plays Steve’s on-screen son. “We made an independent American cinematic film for families,” Steve told Louisville Public Media in a 5/31 interview. The film opened in U.S. theaters 3/27/26, and RogerEbert.com gave it 3 of 4 stars. Rick Gomez directed his feature debut from a script he co-wrote with Steve Zahn.

Kentucky Film Office Director Says The State Is Going After The Indie Film Market — Not Marvel. The Strategy Just Got Explicit.

Meg Fister, the first executive director of the Kentucky Film Office, sat down with Louisville Public Media and laid out the playbook. Fister says Kentucky has more shoreline than Florida because of its lakes. She pointed to a 60-mile union zone that touches rural and urban, horse farms, empty buildings that pass as temporary stages, and summer days long enough to shoot until 9 PM. And she is not chasing tentpoles. “I don’t want to rob the entire cap on one Marvel feature at the beginning of the year, and then no one else can make work, and none of our crews work the rest of the year.” A new public-facing site is on the way at filmkentucky.org with crew and location databases.

Kentucky Just Approved 14 More Productions for State Tax Credits. $42.9M Is Still Available in 2026.

The Kentucky Entertainment Incentive scoreboard refreshed this week with two cycles of new approvals — May 8 and May 28. The state KEI report lists 12 projects approved May 28 for a combined $6.14M in potential tax credits; the signed minutes show one of them, Cycling the Stans, as tabled. Two May 8 approvals — TOTD Film LLC’s “Twilight of the Dead” ($3.84M) and AANAXION’s “I Never Should Have Slept with Him” ($3.35M) — both shoot in Barren County. Total CY2026 commitments are now $32.09M against the $75M annual cap. That leaves $42.91M open for the rest of the year.

Digital Journal Calls Kentucky “Its Own Character” in Lifetime’s “Where the Heart Lands” — 4.5/5

Digital Journal reviewed the movie ahead of its Saturday 8 PM Lifetime premiere, scoring the Lexington-shot romantic drama 4.5 out of 5 stars and calling out “the backdrop of Kentucky, which serves as its own character in the movie” alongside the horse-racing setting as what elevates the film. Directed by Haylie Duff, starring Jana Kramer and Tyler Johnson with John Schneider, Charlene Tilton, and Jessica Szohr. The film was shot in Lexington and Paris, with Keeneland settings.

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KFLC Approves “Whisper Sisters” TV Series for Louisville Shoot — $128,975 Eligible Tax Credit

At its May 28 meeting, the Kentucky Film Leadership Council approved Liquor Sisters LLC’s scripted TV series “Whisper Sisters” for the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive program. The Jefferson County production was scheduled to shoot from as early as June 21 through July 30, with $410,093 in anticipated qualifying spend and a $128,975 eligible refundable credit. Owners listed in the board book are Brian Loschiavo of Riverside Entertainment, Corey Roederer and Emmy-winning casting director Mary Clay Boland (Friends, The Sopranos).

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The LEX MXR — Kentucky Production Network Mixer at LEX Studios. Saturday, May 23. 6–9 PM. Lexington.

KYFilmCrew.org, KY Creature FX, and LEX Studios are hosting an in-person crew mixer at LEX Studios in Lexington on Saturday, May 23, 2026, from 6 to 9 PM. The event is free with registration through KYFilmCrew.org. The room: Kentucky-based film and TV crew sitting across from producers, UPMs, line producers, and project leads working in the Bluegrass. For producers actively scouting Kentucky for summer and fall shoots, this is the fastest way to put faces to the directory listings. For crew, registration through the KYFilmCrew.org directory is required to attend.

Producer read: The LEX MXR puts a face to every résumé and gives producers a single Saturday evening to staff a Kentucky-based shoot from the room. LEX Studios, which LEX18 called Kentucky’s largest film and production facility, is also the venue, so location, crew, and stage walk-through happen in one stop.

Cinema Systers Film Festival Runs May 21–24 in Paducah. West Kentucky’s UNESCO Creative City Puts Independent Filmmakers in Front of an Audience.

The Cinema Systers Film Festival runs May 21 through 24, 2026 in Paducah — Kentucky’s UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art. Paducah Tourism lists it among the city’s annual festivals, and its film industry page confirms Paducah is a partner in the West Kentucky Film Commission, which launched in May 2025.

Producer read: Paducah’s tourism office offers a single point of contact for film locations, crew and lodging. Useful for indie features scoping a western Kentucky shoot in 2026 or 2027.

SB 324 Is Now Permanent Kentucky Law. The Record Lists It as Acts Chapter 194.

The Kentucky Legislative Record now shows SB 324’s final action as signed by the Governor and assigned Acts Chapter 194 — the bill’s permanent citation in the 2026 Regular Session Acts. That means the entertainment incentive overhaul is codified, not just signed. The law keeps the $75 million annual KEI cap and the refundable credit, carries unused cap forward into future years for high-impact motion pictures, continuous film productions and entertainment productions, and adds video games, music videos, and commercials to the list of eligible productions.

Indie Mystery Feature “The Opium Equation” Shot in Lexington in May. Author Named the KEI Tax Credit as a Draw.

WKYT reported on May 18 that crews were filming an adaptation of Lisa Wysocky’s Cat Enright equestrian mystery novel “The Opium Equation” at Claybank Farm in Lexington. Wrap was planned for the end of May. Wysocky cited Kentucky’s 30–35% refundable entertainment incentive as a factor in choosing the state.

Source: WKYT →

Lifetime’s “Where the Heart Lands” — Shot in Lexington and Paris — Premieres May 30.

“Where the Heart Lands,” a Lifetime original directed and co-written by Haylie Duff, premieres on Lifetime at 8 p.m. on May 30, 2026. The movie shot in Lexington and Paris, Kentucky and features Keeneland and Bluegrass horse country throughout. The cast is Jana Kramer, Tyler Johnson, John Schneider, and Charlene Tilton. The Kentucky Theatre in Lexington hosted a red-carpet premiere on April 10. For producers: this is a national-network movie shot on location in Lexington and Paris. UPMs scoping romantic-drama or horse-country features now have a 2026 comp running on basic cable May 30.

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KFLC May 8 board book live. April 30 signed minutes posted. Two post-SB 324 Council meetings now public.

The Kentucky Film Leadership Council meeting materials for May 8, 2026 are live on the Cabinet for Economic Development KEI page, along with signed minutes from the April 30, 2026 meeting. That’s two KFLC meetings, eight days apart, publicly documented since Governor Beshear signed SB 324 on April 23. Next regular meeting: May 28, 2026.

Producer read: if you want to know how Kentucky’s new film-credit framework is being administered, the room is public and the paper trail is current. Council books and minutes drop on a regular cadence. No mystery on who decided what.

Kentucky’s First Purpose-Built Soundstage Is a $29M Nadus Studios Build in Louisville. A $70M Louisville Gardens Conversion Is Planned.

Nadus Studios is investing $29 million to build Kentucky’s first purpose-built soundstage in Louisville. The planned $70 million Louisville Studios project converts the historic Louisville Gardens building into stages, with partners Unbridled Films, Sylmar Studios and Poe Companies. For producers: Kentucky already has working stages at LEX Studios in Lexington and Kentucky Sound Stage in Owensboro. Check each Louisville project’s construction status before planning a 2027 shoot around it.

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Louisville Lands on MovieMaker Magazine’s 2026 Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker. Ranked No. 16 of 25.

MovieMaker Magazine named Louisville one of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2026 — the first time the city has made the list, debuting at No. 16 of 25 nationwide. The editors cited Louisville’s wide range of locations, mild four-season climate, the up-to-35% KEI cash-back incentive, recent feature work including Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire (with Louisville doubling for 1970s Indianapolis) and Alex Vlack’s The Revisionist (Dustin Hoffman, Andre Holland, Alison Brie), plus Speed Cinema’s Flyover Film Festival (15th year) and a new film degree launching this year at Kentucky College of Art and Design. For producers: this is third-party validation that pairs with the KEI math when pitching above-the-line talent on a Kentucky shoot.

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Northern Kentucky University Becomes 2026 Home of the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. Film+Photography Is One of Its Disciplines.

Northern Kentucky University will host the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) for the next three years, starting with the 2026 summer residency June 7–27, 2026. GSA runs as a three-week intensive for top high-school artists across ten disciplines in 2026, after Graphic Design was added. Film and Photography is one of them. The program had previously been hosted at the University of Kentucky for six years.

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Bloomberg Tax briefed its national tax-pro readers on SB 324. Kentucky’s film-credit reform reached a national tax audience.

Bloomberg Tax Daily Tax Report State published a brief on Kentucky’s amended film tax credit program. Their summary: the Governor signed a law establishing “a new organizational structure and modifying credit allocation methods,” maintaining the $75M annual cap and adding refundable credits plus carryforward of unused funds for high-impact productions. Citation: S.B. 324, enacted 04/23/26.

Producer read: Bloomberg Tax covers state credit changes for tax professionals. Kentucky’s SB 324 is now in that coverage.

A Hallmark Movie Shot at Churchill Downs Just Aired on Derby Day. The Reviews Are In.

“Kentucky Roses” aired Saturday May 2 at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel — Derby Day — and streamed the next day on Hallmark+. Hallmark and Churchill Downs said production wrapped in 2025. Fantasy Land called it “a near-perfect Hallmark Channel movie.” For producers weighing locations, the takeaway holds: a national network just proved a Kentucky-shot title can land Kentucky on premiere night, day-of Derby. Destination IP, network-promoted, on-premiere-night.

Source: Fantasy Land News review →

Most-Watched Kentucky Derby on Record. 19.3M Average. 24.0M Peak.

NBC Sports’ broadcast of the 152nd Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2026, averaged 19.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock — the most-watched Run for the Roses on record, up 9% from 2025. The audience peaked at 24.0 million from 7:00–7:15 p.m. ET as Golden Tempo, a 23-1 long shot, came from last place to win by a neck. Peacock posted a record 1.3 million average-minute audience, the most-streamed horse race in NBC history.

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Cherie DeVaux Becomes First Female Trainer to Win the Kentucky Derby. Story Hooks for KY Productions.

Cherie DeVaux made history on May 2, 2026, becoming the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. Golden Tempo, ridden by Jose Ortiz at 23-1 odds, came from last place to overtake Renegade in the stretch, winning by a neck and earning the $3.1 million purse. Before DeVaux, the closest a woman had come was Shelley Riley’s runner-up finish with Casual Lies in 1992 — a 34-year gap.

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For producers weighing locations: KEI runs at 30 to 35 percent refundable on qualifying spend, with a $75M annual cap. SB 324, signed April 23, 2026, adds carry-forward of unallocated cap for high-impact, continuous and entertainment productions, and expands eligibility to video games, music videos, and commercials. The track record above is what existed before SB 324 took effect.

For producers: video games, music videos, and commercials are now on the KEI list. Unused cap no longer vanishes at year end, which helps productions that cross calendar years. Sponsor: R. Stivers. It took effect July 15, 2026.

For UPMs and line producers planning post-Derby Louisville work: Eastman’s office works alongside Metro Louisville and Louisville Tourism. The Kentucky Senate confirmed her as a KFLC member 38-0 on April 15, 2026 with a term to June 30, 2029.

For producers: this is the KEI pipeline in motion. Wrigley Media Group co-producing with True Brand Entertainment and Wild Chapel, Kentucky crew working, two Kentucky towns standing in for a fictional Kentucky town. Great American Family is on a run of Kentucky-shot holiday titles. KEI applies at 30 to 35 percent refundable.