The Los Angeles City Council Jobs & Business Development Committee, chaired by Councilmember Richard Alarcón, unanimously passed on Tuesday (7/27) an Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP)-backed effort to increase the entertainment production tax cap, which will reduce taxes for hundreds of production companies doing business in Los Angeles. Matt Miller, president and CEO of the AICP, testified in support of the motion introduced by Councilmember Alarcón earlier this month.
“This tax cap adjustment will greatly benefit the entire industry in Los Angeles as well as all of our member production companies that produce work there,” said Miller. “It sends a strong message that the City is serious about keeping commercial production in L.A. in addition to bringing back recently displaced production, even if the state has not acted to combat national and international competition.”
Currently, the city assesses tax liability on film production companies through a flat fee of $145 on production activity up to $2.5 million. This represents the minimum threshold to which $1.30 is assessed for each additional $1,000 in production costs incurred in excess of $2.5 million. This rate-per-thousand system taxes all production costs up to a maximum of $12 million or $12,495 in direct city taxes. The tax reduction measure proposes adjusting the minimum tax threshold from the current $2.5 million to a new minimum of $5 million for all production companies.
According to the AICP’s 2010 Annual Member Survey, the median sales per company in 2009 was $2.79 million. Raising the minimum threshold to $5 million would provide significant tax savings to small and medium-sized production businesses, affecting a large majority of all commercial production companies as well as other boutique firms and postproduction houses in the industry.
The unanimous vote calls on the city’s chief legislative analyst and city administrative officer to draft ordinance language and report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee in 30 days on the economic impact of the measure, at which time the committee may vote to send it before the full Council for final approval.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More