Micro-Budget Productions and Film Grant Changes.

This bill modifies North Carolina's Film and Entertainment Grant Fund to create a new Micro-Budget Productions Account specifically for smaller-scale film projects. Under the new provisions, grants for these smaller productions are capped at $100,000 plus a potential bonus, provided the project has qualifying expenses between $50,000 and $1,499,000. The legislation also adjusts funding limits for larger productions, raising the maximum grant for feature films to $20 million and increasing the cap for television series seasons to $25 million. Additionally, the bill updates definitions for "highly compensated individuals" and "qualifying expenses" to align with higher compensation thresholds and exclude certain costs from eligible spending.