Evergreen Films announced today that the company has signed a development deal with New York Times bestselling author, Dana Stabenow to bring her popular Kate Shugak, Alaska P.I. mystery series to television.

Alaska has long been the setting for popular television and film productions, such as Northern Exposure (TV series 1990-1995), Insomnia (film 2002), Snow Dogs (film 2002), and Men in Trees (TV series 2006-2008). Yet, the only thing these productions have in common - they were all filmed somewhere other than Alaska. Most recently, in The Proposal (2009), staring Sandra Bullock, a small town in Massachusetts stood in for the coastal community of Sitka. Led by the efforts of the Alaska State Legislature, the Alaska business community, and local production companies, there is now momentum to change that trend bringing new film, documentary and television projects to the state.

"I've been approached in the past to option my stories for television," said Dana Stabenow. "But prior to Evergreen, no assurances were made that the production would be filmed in Alaska. My stories are Alaska stories and they need to be told in Alaska. Evergreen Films is located in Alaska, the company does amazing work, and I am thrilled at the prospect of working together."

In June 2008, the Alaska Film Incentive Bill, sponsored by Senator Johnny Ellis (D-Anchorage), was signed into law. It follows a process begun by other states in the Lower 48 to fight the lucrative Canadian film industry

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incentives. It sets into law a process by which film companies can receive transferable tax credits for a percentage of production work performed in Alaska.

"This is what we imagined when we crafted the film incentive bill," said Sen. Johnny Ellis. " We hoped this program would help bring our state substantial investments and a strong and diversified economy. Projects such as the Dana Stabenow series could also provide millions of dollars worth of marketing and promotion for Alaska businesses, products, and tourism. " Evergreen Films has already produced films capturing like the recent National Geographic documentary, "Icy Killers: Secrets of Alaska's Salmon Sharks."

"We wanted the opportunity to produce a TV series about Alaska in Alaska," said Mike Devlin, "and the state's film incentive program is making it easier for us to do that. Now we can't wait to bring the wonderfully vivid stories written by Dana Stabenow to television audiences around the world."