Our Story

In May 2021, two American film commissioners took a look around the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival and noticed something that should have been obvious: every major film-producing country in the world had arrived with coordinated federal representation: pavilions, delegations, and unified national brands. The United States, the birthplace of the film industry, did not.

Katie Patton Pryor, Film Commissioner of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Tony Armer, then Film Commissioner of St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida, asked the question:

Why doesn't the most influential screen industry in the world have a national voice?

They identified three critical gaps: no national member association for U.S. film commissions, no federal film office, and no federal production incentive. FilmUSA was created to fix all three.

What began as a collaborative effort to show up together at international markets has grown into a national institution. Today, FilmUSA is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing more than 120 state, regional, city, and tribal film commissions across the USA. We operate the FilmUSA Pavilion at the Marché du Film at Cannes, represent American production at festivals and markets around the world, and are building the policy infrastructure for a Federal Film Office that will give the American screen economy the national strategy it has never had.

FilmUSA is commissioner-led and mission-driven. Our member offices are the front lines of the American production industry; the people who attract, support, and retain the projects that create jobs, generate tax revenue, and tell the stories that define American culture. We exist to connect their expertise to national strategy, their local impact to federal policy, and their collective voice to the global stage.

While at our core we are an association of film commissioners, our work would not be possible without our many partners at every level. We are grateful to work with other organizations, companies, and individuals that believe in this mission.