The filming of the third Transformers movie brought about $24 million in spending to Illinois. The reviews of Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon aren’t so glowing, but the filming of the movie was a success for Illinois. Transformers was filmed in Chicago last summer and brought in hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the state.

Betsy Steinberg is with the Illinois Film Office. She says a 30 percent tax credit for film productions played a big part in attracting filmmakers.

“Without a serious tax credit, it’s very difficult to get any kind of film industry to town. Currently, over 40 states have some sort of film tax credits or incentives in place,” she said.

Steinberg says the film industry as a whole brought in a record $161 million to the state in 2010. She says more projects are in the works this year, including a Superman movie being filmed around Plano, Illinois.