A Louisville native with experience working with major television and film networks and studios is now attached to direct the Kentucky Film Office, the state agency geared toward marketing the Bluegrass State to the entertainment industry.
The Kentucky Film Leadership Council announced Meg Fister's hiring as executive director in a release on the Cabinet for Economic Development's website Tuesday.
Fister – whose nearly 20 years of experience includes time as a producer and development executive in the film and television industries – said she thinks this could be the beginning of an exciting new chapter for herself and the state.
"Kentucky has extraordinary creative talent, powerful stories and a rich diversity of landscapes," she said in the release. "My goal is to position Kentucky as a premier destination for film and television production while also building meaningful opportunities for our artists, crew and communities, so creativity can thrive here and be shared on a national and global stage."
Prior to her hiring, Fister worked in senior roles where she managed multi-million-dollar budgets, led production teams and guided projects from pitch through delivery for major networks and studios like Quinn's House Productions at NBC, Universal, Warner Bros., and Netflix.
Fister has also served in artistic leadership positions at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and Actors Theatre of Louisville, as well as support of philanthropy for Louisville Public Media.
In the state release, Gov. Andy Beshear said he looks forward to "seeing her strengthen Kentucky's creative workforce and position the commonwealth as a leading filming destination for years to come."
In her role as executive director, Fister is charged with not only attracting film and television productions to the state, but building up Kentucky's creative workforce and making the commonwealth "a premier filming destination for storytelling, investment and economic growth."
The state is hoping that Fister's role in the Kentucky Film Office, in conjunction with the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive (KEI) Program, can help grow the state's economy beyond the entertainment industry.
Lawmakers reorganized the Kentucky Film Office last year, forming the Kentucky Film Leadership Council to administer the program that offers tax incentives to entertainment productions that operate in the state. The KEI program offers those incentives in an effort to encourage film, television and theater productions to spend money in Kentucky communities, develop a robust state entertainment workforce and industry and create infrastructure for production and postproduction facilities throughout the commonwealth.
Since 2022, nearly 270 productions have been approved for nearly $274.5 million in Kentucky tax incentives. Altogether, those projects total up to $794.5 million invested and supported nearly 27,000 jobs in the commonwealth.
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