Both houses of the Illinois legislature have overwhelmingly passed a significant increase in the state’s filming incentives program, establishing a 30 percent tax credit on total production spending in the state for qualified theatrical features, TV programs, commercials and ad-related projects.
Initially Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D-IL) was expected to sign the measure into law. However he was arrested last week on federal corruption charges. Still, the measure is guaranteed to be enacted by no later than January 20, 2009–with or without the governor’s signature That’s because the incentives package is veto proof, having passed by votes of 52 to 0 in the Illinois Senate and 108 to 2 in the state’s House of Representatives.
A major impetus for the passage of the new incentives was the increased competition for filming business, particularly from nearby Michigan and Wisconsin. The former has a 40 percent tax credit for features and TV (not commercials) while Wisconsin has a 25 percent credit in place spanning features, TV and spots.
Thus Illinois saw a compelling need to up its 20 percent tax credit to 30 percent, primarily to help attract more feature and TV work. Commercialmaking in turn benefitted from this as production houses, ad agencies and/or clients will be able to tap into an increased tax credit for Illinois shoots.
“This makes filming in Illinois even more attractive, enabling commercial producers to be more competitive, to offer more bang for the buck in the face of challenged budgets,” said Mark Androw, executive producer of Chicago-headquartered Story, a production house which also has offices in New York and Los Angeles. A former AICP national chairman, Androw said that Story has taken advantage of the 20 percent tax credit and is enthused over future prospects with a 30 percent tax credit set to take hold.
“In recent years, we’ve been able to more competitively bid projects that shoot in the state and it’s helped us to get business,” he related, conjecturing that this dynamic should continue and perhaps flourish with an even sweeter incentive about to go into effect.
At the same time, Androw noted that an increase in feature and TV activity in Illinois as a result of the incentives also benefits the ad community, serving as a catalyst for growth in the state’s infrastructure in terms of production resources and talent.
To qualify for the new incentive, in-state spending must exceed $50,000 for a commercial. That’s the same minimum threshold that was needed to qualify for the 20 percent tax credit. Androw added that producers also have to demonstrate that if not for the incentive, a project would have likely gone somewhere else for production. And there is a diversity prerequisite whereby producers must commit to having a representative portion of the crew consist of minorities. Generally the formula is for such representation to be commensurate with Illinois’ population, meaning around 20 percent of workers on a production should be from minority groups.
Androw noted that Story and other companies as well as different segments of the Illinois filmmaking community have made a concerted effort to train minorities for crew positions and that these endeavors have helped to make for a more diverse workforce. Androw added that organized labor played a major role in lobbying state legislators for the passage of the new incentives package.
Besides increasing the tax credit, the new measure eliminated the sunset clause which had the industry typically waiting for incentives to get renewed from one year to the next. This often put filming on hold annually for an extended period after the incentive would expire on Dec. 31. Now filmmaking can go forward in Illinois without such a lull.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More