MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Interest in filming movies and television shows in Wisconsin has decreased drastically this year, with the future of the tax incentives in limbo.

Gov. Jim Doyle has proposed scrapping the incentives and replacing them with a $500,000 annual grant program. The Legislature has proposed some changes, but Doyle, who has last say, hasn't said whether he supports them.

Last year at this time there were six films and a dozen TV shows in production or preproduction. So far this year, Film Wisconsin, which promotes filming in the state, has had only about six inquiries from films and a handful from TV shows, said Executive Director Scott Robbe. There's only one independent film currently in pre-production in the state, Robbe said.

"Essentially we've killed all business for this year," Robbe said. "We're not just viewed as a film friendly state."

Doyle felt the current program, that started in 2008 with no limits on tax rebates and credits, was too rich given the state's projected state's record $6.6 billion budget shortfall.

The Commerce Department has cited the big budget film "Public Enemies" in its arguments against the program since it received $4.6 million in tax rebates and credits but only generated $5 million in economic activity.

The budget passed Friday by the Legislature and sent to the governor puts a $1.5 million annual lid on the incentives. But after two years there would be no limit on how much could be given to qualifying projects through tax breaks. Doyle's spokeswoman Carla Vigue said Doyle wouldn't comment on the proposal.

But Zach Brandon, executive secretary for the Commerce Department, said the proposal is unacceptable. He said Doyle still wants a grant program or something similar that is "within a reasonable scale compared to other economic development programs," he said.

Brandon said there's an incentive arms race going on, with states continually offering more and more. He said films are going to states where they get the most subsidies, but that doesn't mean it's a good investment for that state. Hollywood is having a banner year and is not in need of subsidies, he said.

"We believe these are serious times that require serious solution and we don't believe that film subsidies are one of these serious solutions," he said.

The crew from "No God, No Master" starring Oscar-nominated David Strathairn from "Goodnight and Good Luck," recently announced they planned to film mostly in Milwaukee. It's about U.S. Bureau of Investigation agent William Flynn and the Red Scare of the early 1900s.

Terry Green, the film's screenwriter and director from Chicago, said they picked Wisconsin because of the incentives. But Milwaukee's architecture fits well with the movie and it would cost them less to film in Milwaukee. If the incentives get scrapped, they will still film in Milwaukee because they've started preproduction, Green said.

But producer Duane Journey said they would have a hard time returning for another project.

"There is definitely some anxiety about going forward with a project, not knowing whether it's in place or not," Journey said.

They plan to start filming July 20 for four to five weeks using many local actors for speaking and background roles, Journey said. He estimated they would spend 70 percent to 75 percent of their $5 million budget in the area. Almost all filming will be in Milwaukee, except for scenes involving a farmhouse, which will be filmed nearby, Green said.

"I think our film represents what the tax incentive is actually meant to do and that is to help create local jobs for aspiring filmmakers and that's exactly what we do here," Green said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)