Is that really Washington? Why more movies could be made in the Evergreen State

After the book achieved best-selling status, the film potential for “The Boys in the Boat” created significant buzz around Hollywood. The story was certain to hit the big screen, but how it would get there wasn’t so clear.

The historic tale of a University of Washington rowing team had many assuming that cameras would be rolling locally, filming Lake Washington and other Seattle sites where this history actually took place.

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That didn’t happen. “The Boys in the Boat,” directed by George Clooney and starring Joel Edgerton, was filmed in the United Kingdom in 2022 and released the following year.

This article is from Meet Me Here, KUOW’s arts podcast, ahead of the Seattle Film Critics Society annual awards. The awards highlight movies made in the Pacific Northwest over the past year. These films will be screened in Seattle from Oct. 29 through Nov. 23.

Listen to the full podcast below, featuring filmmaker Megan Griffiths, film critic Chase Hutchinson, and Amy Lillard with Washington Filmworks.

“We certainly were tracking that project for years,” said Amy Lillard, executive director for Washington Filmworks. “We had great partnerships with the University of Washington, we saw so many directors come and go from that project, but ultimately they chose to go abroad where the [film] incentive was more lucrative.”

Something changed shortly after that. Washington's Legislature upgraded the state's film incentive in 2022 — a program designed to attract filmmakers and their money to the state. After pandemic slowdowns and an industry strike, there are now some signs that producers are taking the bait and there is hope the results will be felt locally.

As “The Boys in the Boat” hit movie screens in 2023, a crew with another Northwest-set movie toured the region. Just like "The Boys in the Boat," "Train Dreams" was a period piece set in the Northwest, based on an acclaimed book, also slated to star Joel Edgerton, and originally planned to film in Europe. Local shots would be edited into the story to create the illusion of the Northwest.

“They came to Washington looking for one specific location,” Lillard said. “They were going to drop in, they were going to do that one scene, and then they were going to go to the eastern bloc of Europe. That was the plan. When they arrived, we started showing them around and we found some key locations and we said, ‘What are you doing? Why would you not film the whole thing here?’ And indeed they did.”

“Train Dreams" became one of the first films to benefit from Washington’s upgraded film incentive. It has since received rave reviews from critics and is expected to be listed among the best films of 2025.

After pandemic slowdowns and industry strikes that snarled productions, Washington could finally see if its new film incentive program can make the cut.

Why doesn’t Seattle star in films about Seattle?

There are questions Northwest film nerds often discuss: Why aren’t films about Washington filmed in Washington? Why does Seattle look so much like Vancouver, B.C. in this movie? Why aren’t more films generally made in Washington? After all, Vancouver B.C. has been standing in for everything from Seattle to outer space for decades. And that's just over the border.

In short, Washington was simply not financially attractive to producers for many years, while at the same time, British Columbia offered a bargain and grew into "Hollywood North." On top of that, Washington has set its cinematic sites on lower-budget movies instead of big-budget blockbusters that your streaming service is likely to put in front of you.

(It's worth noting that even though the incentive was increased in 2022, Hollywood was still suffering from pandemic slowdowns and a writers strike in 2023, which hindered film production throughout the industry.)

Despite a ’90s surge of local cinematic pride — when “Singles,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “Twin Peaks,” or “Northern Exposure” showcased the region — Hollywood often skips Washington. It's more likely that filmmakers will create the illusion of Washington in another state or country. The film “M3GAN,” set in Seattle’s tech industry, was filmed in New Zealand. The horror/comedy “Heart Eyes” is also set in Seattle, but locals might be thrust out of the story when they notice palm trees lining what is supposed to be Sea-Tac Airport or a Western Washington winery (this movie was also filmed in New Zealand).

Then there's “Twilight,” “Where’d you go, Bernadette,” “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” the TV show “iZombie.” All are set in Washington state, but are filmed elsewhere.

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In the time between “The Boys in the Boat” and “Train Dreams,” Washington’s lawmakers passed a new plan that offers filmmakers around 30% cashback on money spent inside the state. Washington now puts aside $15 million annually for the program.

Washington’s film incentive still cannot compete with British Columbia, right next door. Lillard admits that sometimes the state still has an "embarrassment of riches" when it comes to money for filmmakers. Still, the updated program is an improvement.

At the same time, Washington state isn’t seeking out the same films that are apt to land in B.C. According to the most recent report on Washington’s film competitiveness, the state focuses on “moderately budgeted independently funded narrative projects.”

"[At] Washington Filmworks, we really think about our market being Oregon, Montana, and even Utah,” Lillard said. “Those are the same level of incentive. When producers are looking for a home for their film … we have similar topography, we have similar incentives, we have similar crew bases. So that’s really our market … We’re not looking for … the big George Clooney movie. We’re really looking for the film, say somewhere between $5 million to $18 million. That’s kind of our sweet spot. That is where we have worked consistently since the incentive has been increased. And we’re really good at that.”

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