He chose family over Hollywood. Then Hollywood came to Louisville.

How Kentucky's film tax incentive brought a major motion picture- and local dreams- to life.

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When Neil Mulac wakes up some mornings, he still worries it was all a dream.

The Louisville native and owner of Everything Cinema Productions landed a supporting lead role in "Dead Man's Wire," a major motion picture directed by legendary filmmaker Gus Van Sant that hits theaters nationwide today. And for Mulac, who's spent years building Kentucky's acting community, it feels almost too good to be true.

"It's probably the only time in my life that I worry that I'm somehow going to wake up and it's all going to have been this one wonderful dream," Mulac told me. "I mean, no way this has happened to me."

But it did happen. And Mulac says it happened because of something Kentucky got right: the film tax incentive program.

A true story comes to Louisville

"Dead Man's Wire" tells the story of Tony Kiritsis, who on February 8, 1977, entered the office of Richard Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company in Indianapolis, and took him hostage. Kiritsis used a sawed-off shotgun wired with a "dead man's wire" from the trigger to his own neck. The intense drama, which also stars Al Pacino, was filmed almost entirely in Louisville over just 19 days last year.

For Mulac, working with Van Sant- whose filmography includes "Good Will Hunting," "Milk," and "My Own Private Idaho"- was surreal.

"I was obsessed with his films in college," he said. "To be a part of his filmography... I mean, I would have been happy just having a single line. I'm very glad for the role that I had, but even if it was just a background opportunity, I would have seized on it. When will I ever get to work with Gus again?"

The experience exceeded every expectation. No egos. Warm, collaborative energy on set. Cast members showed up on their days off just to hang around. Mulac has seen the finished film twice now- once at the Toronto International Film Festival and again at the LA premiere last week- and says that joy comes through on screen.

"It looked like the actors were having a good time, you know? And we were," he said.

How Kentucky made this possible

But here's the thing Mulac wants everyone to know: without Kentucky's film tax incentive, this opportunity wouldn't have existed.

The Kentucky Entertainment Incentive (KEI) program offers refundable tax credits to productions that film in the state. The program was revived a few years ago under Governor Andy Beshear, thanks in large part to advocates like Soozie Eastman with 502 Film.

"Governor Beshear welcomed it with open arms, and it has had such an impact, not only on folks like me, actors, but these incredible behind-the-camera crew that we have here," Mulac said. "It's also impacted small businesses- all the restaurants, the hotels, boutique stores."

For Mulac, who fell in love with acting in eighth grade and has spent years coaching other Kentucky actors through his company Everything Cinema Productions, the tax incentive represents something bigger: the ability to pursue a film career without leaving home.

"For me, what was right was staying in Kentucky and having a family and supporting the community here," he said. "But regardless of where you ultimately end up, Kentucky is continuing to turn itself into a major hub for film."

Louisville's Big Screen Moment

Mulac believes "Dead Man's Wire" will be a watershed moment for Kentucky filmmaking. Even though the movie is set in Indianapolis, Louisville plays itself as a character in the film.

"Louisville looks amazing in Dead Man's Wire," he said. "The texture that it brings to the film is incredible."

That diversity of locations- the fact that you can drive 20 minutes in different directions from Louisville and find completely different environments- makes the city particularly attractive to filmmakers working on tight shooting schedules.

"When you're on 20-day shoots... you don't have a lot of time, and if you can limit the amount of travel and still get all of these perfect locations to communicate the emotional tones of whatever script you're creating, then why would you go elsewhere?" Mulac said. "Kentucky has what you need."

When the film opens in wide release today, Mulac expects producers, set designers, cinematographers and directors to take notice.

"I think they're going to say, 'Oh, I want to make something there. Look at the texture, look at the variety of images that are coming out of this town,'" he said.

There's another Louisville connection worth celebrating: Daniel R Hill, also a South End kid who attended UofL's drama school with Mulac in the early 2000s, plays a significant role in the film as well. Hill moved to LA about a decade ago, but getting to work together on a project of this caliber made the experience even more special.

"So many of us are still in the industry and thriving," Mulac said of his drama school classmates. "It was a wonderful opportunity to get to collaborate with him again."

A win worth celebrating

As someone who covers a lot of what goes wrong in Kentucky, I have to admit: this was a refreshing conversation. Mulac's gratitude was genuine, his excitement contagious.

"There are a lot of things that are going in a wrong direction, but this truly is one that is going in the right direction," he told me. "It's a happy story, and I am forever grateful."

"Dead Man's Wire" opens in theaters nationwide today, Friday, January 16.

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