The economic benefits of filming extend well beyond actual production. Consider the boost to tourism that film, TV or Web content can bring to a region. The 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches in Selma—and the Ana DuVernay-directed film, titled Selma, which tells that story—figure to bring thousands of visitors to the historic Alabama city during the course of 2015. Selma earned two Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture.
Similarly The Imitation Game—nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture—is expected to generate visitors to U.K.’s Bletchley Park, the home of Britain’s World War II code-breakers headed by Alan Turing (portrayed by Oscar-nominated Benedict Cumberbatch in the Morten Tyldum-directed film).
And Wild—directed by Jean-Marc Vallee—has fueled anticipation for an increased number of hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail which extends from outside San Diego at the Mexican Border and stretches more than 2,600 miles through California, Oregon and Washington at the Canadian border.
Based on the book of the same title by Cheryl Strayed, the movie is a story of redemption. Recovering from drug abuse, her mom’s death and divorce, Strayed hiked 1,100 miles of the trail. Reese Witherspoon received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Strayed while Laura Dern garnered a Best Supporting Actress nom as Strayed’s mother.
Michigan Incentives
Last month, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed Senate Bill 1103 into law. Highlights of the revised filming incentives program include (info from Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, LLC): Reducing the rebate on direct production expenditures from 27% to 25%; eliminating the $2 million salary cap on payments made to each resident and nonresident; eliminating the tiered labor incentive rates based on residency, above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) status and in its place creates a 25% rebate for “qualified personnel expenditures,” which includes all resident and nonresident labor (both ATL and BTL); and extending the incentive initiative’s sunset date to December 30, 2021.
The enacted program creates the following resident hiring ratio requirements for a production:
Through September 30, 2017, there must be no less than 1 Michigan resident hired for every nonresident hired;
Beginning October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2020, there must be no less than 1.5 Michigan residents hired for every nonresident hired;
Beginning October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2022, there must be no less than 2 Michigan residents hired for every nonresident hired;
Beginning October 1, 2022, there must be no less than 3 Michigan residents hired for every nonresident hired;
Producers may apply for a waiver of the Michigan resident hiring requirement based on unavailability of qualified Michigan residents;
And a new provision stipulates that 10% of program funding be awarded to movies, documentaries and television series with budgets less than $15 million.
Indiana Looks To Reestablish Filming Incentives
In Indiana, House Bill 1087 and Senate Bill 21 look to reestablish the state’s expired production incentive program. Highlights of the proposed program are as follows (info from Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, LLC):
Creates a refundable tax credit;
Allows above-the-line and below-the-line resident labor as qualifying expenditures;
Creates a $2.5 million state annual cap for each fiscal year, July 1 thru June 30, without a per project cap;
For productions with qualified spend of less than $6 million provides a tax credit of: 40% of qualified production expenditures paid to an individual/entity located in a municipality/county where 25% of the households are below the poverty level or has an unemployment rate 1.5 times greater than the statewide average over the most recent 18 months where data is available; and/or 35% of qualified production expenditures not described above;
Provides a 15% tax credit on qualified expenditures for productions with qualified spend of $6 million or more, these productions are: Not approved on a first-come, first-served basis, and must apply for approval prior to incurring any qualified expenditures;
Establishes a minimum spend requirement of $50,000 of qualified expenditures;
Establishes an effective date of January 1, 2016; and,
Creates a sunset date of December 31, 2018.
NY Proposals
In the State of New York, a pair of bills are in play that, if passed, would make key changes in existing production incentive packages.
For one, Assembly Bill 671 proposes to amend the film production incentive to include a documentary film as a qualifying project.
And secondly, Senate Bill 1297 proposes to adjust the state annual cap of $420 million for inflation for each year after 2015, but in no event shall the annual cap be less than $420 million.
