(a) In order to qualify and remain eligible for tax incentive benefits under this subchapter, an applicant must:
(1) Be a Resident Production Company or a non-Virgin Islands entity that has obtained a license to do business in the Territory under 27 V.I.C. § 302.
(2) Expend a minimum of $250,000 on Qualified Production Activities for each Territory Certified Production;
(3) Employ residents of the Virgin Islands as defined in section 703(e) of this title such that a minimum of 20% of the total employees working on the production in the Virgin Islands, including extras, day players, and a maximum of three paid interns who must be residents of the Virgin Islands, unless a documented waiver request is submitted to the Economic Development Authority upon a requisite showing according to regulations promulgated;
(4) Include in the credits of any production language such as the following: “Made or Filmed in the Virgin Islands” or some other designation where the entire production is not completed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, that footage was shot in the territory: “Portions Made in the U.S. Virgin Islands” or in the case of a footage shot in St. Croix “Portions Made or Filmed in St. Croix” and an acknowledgement to the VI Economic Development Authority and the Department of Tourism, as more specifically defined in regulations promulgated hereunder; and
(5) Agree that a member of the executive production crew, including but not limited to the director, producer, production supervisor, writer and department heads shall make themselves available to the Economic Development Authority to speak to local school and university students about music/film/entertainment topics pertinent to the film or video industry applicable to the applicant, where practicable.
(b) The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs shall process a business license application for the production company applicant not later than 15 business days after the applicant’s submitting a completed application to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs. If a determination as to the propriety of the issuance of a business license is not made within 15 days, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs shall issue a temporary license to the applicant entitling the applicant to commence business at the expiration of the fifteen-working-days period, allowing it to conduct business as if in receipt of a valid business license for a period not exceeding 60 days pending completion of the process by the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
(c) The Economic Development Authority shall prescribe regulations, including a procedure for review of the denial or revocation of the certifications, necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter. The final decision regarding the denial or revocation of the certifications under this subchapter must be made by the Economic Development Authority
(d) The Qualified production must begin no later than 180 days after issuance of the Certificate; and the Certificate expire 180 days after issuance, unless an extension is granted by the Economic Development Authority.
(e) Each applicant shall pay an Application Fee as established in the regulations under this subchapter.