The Los Angeles City Council Jobs & Business Development Committee, chaired by Councilmember Richard Alarcรณn, 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 Alarcรณn 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.
Actor Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Arakawa and Their Dog Were Dead For Some Time, Warrant Shows
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple's Santa Fe home, according to investigators. Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 63-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa. Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds. The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn't find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff's detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the best actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s. "He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss," his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife A maintenance worker reported that the home's front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies, investigators said. He and... Read More