The Feb. 4 installment of this column was critical of the fact that commercials were excluded from tax credits designed to encourage filming in New York State and City. Those ambitious incentives gained substantive funding and were passed while spotmaking got passed over.
However, we’re now thankfully in the position of commending legislators in Albany for coming around and recognizing the importance of the commercials industry to the economy. As exclusively reported in last week’s SHOOT lead story, bipartisan backing has emerged in both the State Assembly and Senate for a tax credit that, if passed, would apply to below-the-line expenditures for spot production shot in New York.
Currently, two similarly worded tax incentive bills are in play–one introduced in the State Senate, the other in the Assembly. Sponsoring the latter is Assemblyman Joseph D. Morelle (D-Rochester) who prior to the measure’s formal introduction enlisted more than 20 other Assembly co-sponsors. Morelle chairs the Assembly’s Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee.
There is also high profile backing for the tax credit in the Senate. House majority leader and president pro tem, Sen. Joseph L. Bruno (R-Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties), is a major supporter, as are others, including Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn).
Matt Miller, president/CEO of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), noted that when factoring in the credit, many producers would view a significantly greater number of jobs as being economically viable to film in New York–projects that previously wouldn’t have been regarded as such.
The legislative initiative is generally regarded as precedent setting for the advertising industry. While there have been film/TV tax credits and other broad-based anti-runaway programs that have included spots in various cities and states, the New York proposal is believed to be the first major standalone measure specifically designed for and exclusively targeting commercial production.
Miller and AICP executive VP Steve Caplan are among those optimistic over the prospects for the ultimate passage of the tax credit. Caplan noted that the economic impact findings in AICP-commissioned, independently conducted research studies in ’03 and ’04 made a favorable impression in the State Assembly and Senate. The study released last year showed that AICP members account for nearly $5.5 billion in production-related expenditures annually.
Miller added that labor has stepped up to the lobbying plate, with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) expressing their support for the tax credit. A letter-writing campaign to key legislators has gotten underway with AICP members urging them to back the spot filming incentive measure. It figures that increased industry lobbying will also be directed at Gov. George Pataki (R-N.Y.).
So we conclude this column with the same sentence that ended the Feb. 4 column that objected to the short shrift given to spotmaking in the original legislation: Indeed no anti-runaway initiative is complete without commercials–and without accounting for an advertising industry that is starting to meaningfully diversify into other emerging forms of content.
