Last year, film and video production and distribution contributed nearly a half billion dollars to the 16-county Charlotte area economy. And that was in the midst of a recession.

According to a new study conducted by UNC Charlotte Economics Professor John Connaughton, the film and video production and distribution industry in Charlotte USA had a regional economic impact of $468,518,967 in 2008. Of this, $117,799,236 was for employee compensation for 2,453 full-time equivalent jobs, jobs that paid an average of $48,032, a 30 percent premium over the average compensation in the Carolinas. Connaughton says that’s about the size of professional sports, with a bigger economic impact than the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats and about the same impact as the Speedway, which draws tens of thousands of people each year to NASCAR and drag races.

“We knew that the film and video production and distribution industry was important to our region, but we didn’t realize just how big it is,” said Ronnie Bryant, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Partnership. “The study not only highlights the industry’s economic impact, but underscores our deep regional talent pool and physical assets that can support local companies as well as big, outside productions.”

Bryant said that if the industry has nearly a half billion dollar impact in a down year, it really will take off when the incentives rise from 15 to 25 percent on Jan. 1, 2010. Those incentives, coupled with the region’s diverse locations, and strong crew base and support businesses, will help the Charlotte Regional Film Commission attract more feature films, independent movies, documentaries, commercials, television series and still photography to the region. The Film Commission is a division of the Charlotte Regional Partnership.

The study’s researcher emphasized Charlotte USA’s enviable position. “Charlotte has this video production and distribution industry that's not rivaled in that many other places in the country in terms of its size, and we have a lot of major players here,” Connaughton said. “But more importantly, we have a very unique labor force. It’s very talented and hard to find in other regions.”

The complete study is available here.