Wendol Jarvis is becoming a franchise owner of a Papa Murphy’s pizza parlor. While that would hardly seem to be industry news, it is when you realize his former occupation: director of the Iowa Film Office, an entity that he helped to create in 1984.
According to an Associated Press report, Jarvis opted to leave when the film commission’s budget was pared in half. He contended that the cutback—which means the loss of two assistants—leaves the film office without the tools necessary to do its perennially high-standard job of bringing lensing business into the state.
The Iowa situation is the result of an overall budget deficit that unfortunately isn’t confined to that state. Virtually every state—and assorted cities and counties—are facing a budget crunch this current fiscal year. The shortfall has already translated into the closure of the Massachusetts Film Office (SHOOT, 8/9, p. 1), as well as the municipal film commissions in Boston and St. Louis.
Ironically, film commissions face cutbacks—if not extinction—even though they often generate revenue that dwarfs their operating budgets. And the business they bring into a city or state is highly desirable—non-polluting and job-creating, with an end product that when exposed to audiences serves to also promote tourism in the state or states where the filming took place.
Indeed, shortsightedness has not only claimed the lives of several film commissions, but also significantly reduced the funding of many others. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Some have managed to make headway and progressive gains even in today’s tight economic marketplace.
For example, Louisiana has lowered the required dollar threshold for production companies to qualify for an exclusion from state sales tax. Previously, a production company in Louisiana—or an out-of-state production house with a stake in a Louisiana-based shop—needed expenditures of $1 million in connection with the filming of one or more features, videos, TV series or commercials in the state of Louisiana within a 12-month period. That has been now reduced to $250,000. Mark Smith, director of the Louisiana Film and Video Commission, said the new provision is motivated by the state’s desire to develop its own production community. Smith told SHOOT that he hopes the incentive might encourage out-of-state investment in Louisiana’s production infrastructure.
Meanwhile, California has also made some gains. In the face of a projected $22 billion budget deficit this fiscal year, the state has maintained its commitment—a $10 million appropriation—to continue Film California First (FCF), an anti-runaway program overseen and administered by the California Film Commission. FCF provides reimbursements of certain film-related costs incurred by qualified production companies when lensing on local, state or federal public property in California. Eligible projects include commercials, TV programs and theatrical features.
"Given the state’s budget difficulties, to have this [FCF] program fully funded and moving forward is a testament to its effectiveness," related Steve Caplan, senior VP-external affairs for the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). "We’re pleased that the program has been funded and that increasingly commercial producers appear to be taking advantage of this incentive."
Furthermore, there’s the distinct possibility that FCF might be expanded to include, under certain conditions, reimbursement for local police services as they relate to the filming of qualified projects (SHOOT, 9/13, p. 1). The AICP has been a strong proponent of this measure, Senate Bill 1356, which recently passed both the State Assembly and Senate. At press time, the bill was awaiting the signature of Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA).
