Netflix in Richmond? The entertainment giant is making overtures to state officials as it eyes a potential Virginia expansion.

Netflix is thinking about making Virginia a star.

The streaming giant is targeting Virginia for a potential expansion of its production operation.

On April 16, Governor Ralph Northam received a letter from Netflix's vice president of physical production, Ty Warren, and chief content officer, Ted Sarandos. The company expressed its interest in carving out a niche in the Commonwealth's growing film industry by potentially expanding its production facilities to the region. 

“We make a large portion of our content in Los Angeles and New York,” Netflix stated in the letter. “However when we do look outside of our core production hubs, Virginia has the potential to be an attractive location with great creative and technical talent."

Dealmakers are staying tight-lipped about where business dealings currently stand.

Andy Edmunds, director of the Virginia Film Office, would not comment, although he said he recently visited the company's headquarters in California. 

Spokesman for the Greater Richmond Partnership Michael Ivey also would neither confirm nor deny any ongoing dealings with the company.

Richmond's natural scenery and abundance of historic buildings have attracted producers and filmmakers in the past. The region contains two popular locations for filming and production: one in Powhatan County, and one near Richmond Raceway in Henrico. Both have been sites for film productions in the past, including the AMC drama "Turn: Washington's Spies" and the Showtime series "Homeland."

Sources close to the discussions say Netflix may also be considering Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia as potential sites, according to a report by Richmond BizSense.

Courtesy of Fortune

But before any decision is made, Netflix wants Commonwealth officials to sweeten the deal and make changes to its film tax incentive program. 

Currently, Virginia's film tax incentive program reimburses large production companies with tax breaks for up to 15 percent of their expenses, including employee wages (the figure is 20 percent if a production is shot in an economically struggling region). The program is capped at $6.5 million (in its annual incentive pool for film productions).

Netflix says that's not enough.

“The state’s current production tax incentive legislation and lack of infrastructure prevent it from being a viable option,” the company stated in the letter. “Strong government support for a competitive state production incentive program could entice Netflix to consider shifting production activity to the state on a long-term basis."

Edmunds says it's a proposal worth considering.

“A competitive film incentive program is essential to bring the work,” Edmunds said. “In our program, for every dollar we have paid out in incentives, it has returned $11 to Virginia’s economy.”

The Virginia Production Alliance's chairman of legislative initiatives, Terry Stroud, agrees that increasing the cap for incentives could be an attractive idea for the state.

"The state wants to know what their return on investment will be prior to approving these types of incentives, which is important,” Stroud said. “Could we use more money? Yes.”

Any changes to the state's film tax incentive program would need to be approved by the General Assembly and signed off on by the governor.

Of course, Edmunds says a Netflix expansion to Virginia would be a good thing for both parties.

"(Netflix) currently has 700 productions underway in 100 countries,” he said. ‘We want this work in Virginia.”

Do you want Netflix to come to Virginia? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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