Photo Credit: Greater Cleveland Partnership

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SOURCE: Greater Cleveland Partnership | Megan Gallagher
August 8, 2025

If you ask the President of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, Bill Garvey, what landing the production of Superman in Cleveland means to him, he will tell you this one was special.

If you ask the hundreds of Clevelanders who saw the movie countless times during opening week, they might just cry.

There is no doubt that the production of this summer’s blockbuster in the birthplace of Superman meant something special. It’s a homecoming. It’s a rebirth. As Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne put it at the unveiling of the Superman statue in downtown Cleveland on August 2, it gives our city hope.

To understand the full impact of this movie on our city, Garvey breaks it down. As soon as the movie was in pre-production, he says the Greater Cleveland Film Commission pitched Cleveland to the movie’s head of production. Bill explains that the conversation was easy, as the production head has ties to Ohio, among other things.

“Warner Brothers again coming back, a great partner, over decades, coming back with production after production,” he says. “They started their company in Ohio over 100 years ago.”

The first film the Warner brothers - Harry, Sam, Albert and Jack – ever showed to a theatre audience was in Niles, outside Youngstown. Their father had moved the family to Ohio and began working as a butcher and shoe repairman. When a projector came up for sale in Youngstown, the brothers convinced their father to help pay for the new technology, and they began showing movies in their backyard. Eventually, they graduated to vacant storefronts, then moved their work to Pennsylvania and ultimately opened Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles.

Greater Cleveland benefited from this movie in more ways than one. Our city was displayed beautifully on screen, director James Gunn raved about our people, and the general movie hype gave us the spotlight. The direct financial impact for Cleveland specifically is still unknown, as the Film Commission is still under an NDA for that type of information.

They can share financial and production details for all 6 productions shot in Ohio in 2024. Garvey says 2,926 crew members were used, 2,570 background actors were contracted, and the total spend for production was $77.8 million. Surprisingly, he says Superman was not responsible for the biggest chunk of that total dollar amount.

A taste of that financial success can be found in Greater Cleveland’s local businesses. Garvey explains that businesses like dry cleaners, locksmiths, security companies and party companies benefit from films shot in Cleveland because their services are needed. Euclid dry cleaning company Jay Dee Cleaners was selected, with just a simple phone call from LA, to clean costumes for the Superman actors after each day of filming.

“The only thing we really didn’t get was the Superman outfit. We didn’t get the cape, the villain stuff,” Jay Dee Cleaners General Manager John Sabo explains. “Seeing the stuff we cleaned in the movie is pretty cool.”

The money to pay these local businesses is accounted for in the total production cost. What is not accounted for at that time is the film tax incentive. Garvey says it’s a common misconception that the tax credit money comes upfront. The businesses are paid, actors are hired, and production is complete before the money comes in.

“[The film] goes through a third party CPA audit, to analyze all the receipts in detail, and then that audit is issued to the state. The state reviews that, and only then, does the tax incentive outlay happen,” Garvey says.

That’s why the Film Commission advocates so much for the work they do – to bring more exciting productions to Ohio – and have the means to fund it. With the low cost of living and the beauty of our surroundings already in place, funding is the final hurdle the Film Commission is constantly solving for.

It’s something they will always fight for though – and that work is already being done to bring the Superman sequel to Cleveland.

“Yes, we are absolutely proactive in going after the next one,” Garvey confirms.

He says filmmakers fall in love with Cleveland when they arrive, and as long as the Film Commission fights to keep Cleveland competitive against production-heavy cities like Philadelphia and New Mexico, those filmmakers will return.

“I got into this business because I was a movie buff,” Garvey says. “I still have that child-like wonder in the magic that is created in storytelling. When you strike that gold, and it’s not easy, you know it’s hard to tell a good story, but when you strike that gold, it’s magic.”

To learn more and contribute to the mission of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, click here.

Watch part 1 of our interview with Bill below:



Watch part 2 of the interview below: