BY ALEXANDYR KENT • AKENT@GANNETT.COM • MARCH 3, 2009 2:00 AM

In an economic impact study released Monday, the motion picture industry is estimated to have added $763 million to the Louisiana economy during 2007 at a cost of $105 million to the state. The 96-page study was authored by Economics Research Associates for the Louisiana Economic Development Department. The Chicago-based consulting firm examined the impact of the state's tax incentive programs for the motion picture, music and digital media industries.

Here are a few highlights for the motion picture industry:

· The state attracted 135 movie and TV projects between 2002 and 2007 that qualified for state tax credits. In 2008 alone, the number of projects was 80.

· In-state production and post-production expenses have increased steadily from year to year. In 2005, projects spent $238.6 million directly in Louisiana. In 2007, the number was $429.2 million.

· During 2007, an average movie and TV project spent an average of $5.9 million in Louisiana (on in-state expenditures). In 2002, the number was $4 million. In 2005, the number was $6.6 million.

· Between 2001 and 2007, employment in the state's motion picture industry grew 22 percent annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

· In 2007, the motion picture industry directly employed 3,310 workers in Louisiana. An additional 2,920 jobs were supported indirectly, for a total of 6,230 jobs, which earned $203.7 million in wages. The average salary among all these jobs was about $32,700.

· Wages within the state's motion picture industry increased 8.2 per percent per year between 2001 and 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

· The state of Louisiana will issue an estimated $115.1 million in tax credits for productions made in 2007 and recoup $14.6 million in state taxes as a direct result of these projects. The incentive program amounts to a cost of $100.5 million for the state of Louisiana.

· In calculating the impact of the motion picture industry on the state's economy, the report noted that $429.2 million of direct in-state spending for 2007 ultimately amounted to $763 million of economic benefit to Louisiana, when things like rents, royalties, profits, dividends, property taxes and various indirect benefits are factored in. That means that $6.64 of new spending, or economic stimulus, was generated for every $1 in tax credits issued by the state.