A qualified production company that intends to expend in the aggregate one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) or more in connection with a qualified production in the State of Alabama within a consecutive 12-month period, upon making application for, meeting the requirements of, and receiving written certification of that designation from the office, shall be exempted from the payment of the state portion, but not the local portion of sales, use, and lodging taxes levied pursuant to Sections 40-23-2, 40-23-61, and 40-26-1, respectively, on production expenditures expended in Alabama in connection with the state-certified productions. The exemption provided by this section shall not be available for production expenditures incurred by a qualified production company after the first twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) of production expenditures expended in Alabama on a state-certified project.