State Rep. Bart Rowland (second from left), R-Tompkinsville, speaks Thursday, August 15, 2019, during a groundbreaking ceremony for Ken Bale Studios in Horse Cave. (Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com)

HORSE CAVE – Dozen of community members and state officials came to witness the groundbreaking for the first film studio in Hart County.

In a lot donated by the Bale family, Branscombe Richmond, an advisory member of the Southern Kentucky Film Commission who has appeared in movies such as “License to Kill” and “Commando,” came together with other figures in the fledgling southern Kentucky film industry and others from across the state who have taken notice of the area’s potential.

Ken Bale Studios is a joint venture between Richmond and land developer Jerald Embree and doesn’t use any government funding.

Rep. Bart Rowland, R-Tompkinsville, commended the community for its continued interest in playing a part in the film industry.

“I’m so excited for you all. There’s tons and tons of people who have worked hard on this,” he said. “They know about Hart County all over the state of Kentucky for the films that you all have already completed here, and I’m sure you’re going to be even more successful once this facility gets up and going.”

The Southern Kentucky Film Commission previously brought several productions to the region, including Amish romances “An Uncommon Grace” and “Runaway Romance,” the former of which aired on Hallmark Channel, and “Disturbing the Peace,” an action film starring Guy Pearce.

The groundbreaking was partly a celebration of the area’s potential in the film industry and partly a gathering to promote the reinstatement of refundable tax incentives for film productions, which were instrumental in bringing some films to the region.

“This is an industry just like any other industry that Kentucky is trying to lure,” former Hart County Judge-Executive Terry Martin, who founded the film commission, told the crowd.

“We’ve done a great job in Kentucky bringing factories and businesses, but we haven’t done a real good job of getting this industry back on its feet,” he said.

Martin urged attendees to tell their legislators they want the film incentives, which provide a return of up to 35 percent on all approved expenditures, to be restored.

“Only one word and I want you all to remember it and tell your legislators in January: Change nonrefundable to refundable and they come back,” he said.

As the General Assembly grappled with the pension crisis in 2018, state legislators passed a budget that changed the word refundable, in connection with the incentives, to nonrefundable, effectively ending the incentive program, though productions previously approved are still eligible to receive those incentives.

State Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, spoke to the crowd as well, affirming his interest in restoring the incentives in the state’s next two-year budget.

“The film credit is certainly something we need to do,” he said. “It was reversed a couple of years ago, I think that was the timeline, and before it was reversed, it was impetus for a growth in (the) film industry in Kentucky and the growth was truly phenomenal.”

He also described the decision to remove the incentives as “a mistake.”

“We pretty much decimated this industry,” he said.

Taking the mic, Richmond addressed the crowd, announcing that his plan with Ken Bale Studios for now is to cater mainly to productions that are still eligible for incentives, of which there are 225, according to Tim Bates of the Kentucky Film Office.

“The pipeline is full,” Richmond said. “We’ve just got to get them to come here.”

He also announced the studio is already slated to work with six of those projects, which caused applause to erupt from the crowd.

“They’re small, but it’s OK,” he said. “I love small, mighty little family films.”

After the groundbreaking, Richmond wouldn’t name any of the projects the studio has agreed to work with, though he said he mainly intends to work with films that have already been approved for incentives.

“That’s our marketplace for the studio,” he said. “There’s enough work there for the next four years.”

Horse Cave-Hart County Tourist Commission Executive Director Sandra Wilson, who also serves as secretary for the local film commission, said she was excited about the studio.

Wilson said she has faith in the studio’s ability to draw film productions to the county, particularly if they’ve already been approved for incentives.

“Right now there are several films that have been already approved by the state and so we have a nice little pipeline, however if the incentives aren’t made refundable again, the pipeline will end and we want that pipeline to continue so that it will bring films in here for a long, long time,” she said.

Despite acknowledging the possibility of state incentives not returning, Wilson said she anticipates the studio being a draw.

“I think having this facility here, when it comes, is going to seal the deal with a lot of people,” she said.

So far, she said, opening up to the film industry has been highly rewarding for the county, as well as other communities throughout the region.

During the production of each of the films made under the local film commission’s banner, roughly $500,000 got introduced into the local economy as a result of cast and crew members spending money on supplies, hotel rooms, food and other needs, Wilson said.

“For us, the investment has already been about a half a million for each film and this is going make it even more,” she said. “That’s huge for us.”

– Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.