A push from DFL governor Rudy Perpich aimed to put grant money toward what was then called the "Minnesota Motion Picture and Television Board." The board has received state-funded appropriations every year since its inception in 1983. The funding represents 75 percent of the board's annual operations budget -- private investment matching makes up the rest.
In 1989 The Minnesota Motion Picture and Television Board changed its name to the Minnesota Film Board and named a new executive director.
In 1991 the Film Board dodged a budgetary bullet, it had been threatened with a funding phaseout in Governor Arne Carlson's proposed budget.
Snowbate is the Minnesota's Film and TV Board's Jobs Production Program (created 2006 Minn. Laws Chap. 282 Art. 11 Sec. 9a) . Snowbate is a reimbursement of 15% to 20% of Minnesota production expenditures. The incentive is available to feature films, national television or internet programs, commercials, music videos and documentaries.
Governor Pawlenty's 2010 Supplemental Budget Recommendation proposed cutting all operations funding for the MN Film & TV Board. The proposed reduction in funding for the Snowbate film production jobs program was to $525,000 from $1,225,000M in 2010 and elimination thereafter.
In 2012, the Film Board had $1 million in incentive money available as part of Legacy Amendment Funding. In 2013, the Board's Snowbate incentive program was increased to $10 million ($5,000,000 each year from the general fund for a grant to the Minnesota Film and TV Board for the film production jobs program under Minnesota Statutes, section 116U.26).
2024 Minn. Laws Chap. 120 Art. 2 Sec. 2 established Explore Minnesota Film as an office within Explore Minnesota. A Transition Update was posted on the MNFILMTV website in the summer of 2024, with this statement: "To ensure consistency, MN Film & TV will remain in operation for the coming months as Explore Minnesota Film ramps up. We anticipate a three-month transition period. After Explore Minnesota Film is fully operational, MN Film & TV will close its doors."