Sadly in today’s economy the term “cutting your losses” has become prevalent. Just ask most anyone who’s investment strategizing with regards to his or her stock portfolio or dwindling 401K plan.
Indeed the country and pretty much all its states are in budget shortfall, figuring out where to cut and presumably first cutting those areas that are putting a strain on the bottom line. Yet in the short-sighted madness that is the body politic, states sorely in need of capital aren’t always cutting losses but rather programs that are providing capital. It’s like the cutting losses mantra has perversely turned into cutting profits.
Consider production tax credits and filming incentives which are actually bringing in more money than is being spent on them. Yet still states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New York are reportedly contemplating reducing or not continuing funding for their incentive packages.
An Ernst and Young report forecast that between 2005 and 2010, TV and film productions and related activities in New York are expected to generate about $2.7 billion in state and city tax revenues, compared with an estimated $690 million in state and city credits claimed during the same period.
A movement is underway in New York to preserve and make permanent New York’s incentives program amid concerns it could be sacrificed as the state struggles with how to deal with a $14 billion deficit. Separately New York has a progressive incentives program in place expressly for commercials, which is a key contributor to the health of the economy.
At least California finally has approved filming incentives (see this week’s news story) that apply to qualified features and TV programs. However the Golden State incentives do not apply to commercials, a omission that is penny wise and pound foolish, according to Matt Miller, president/CEO of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP).
Miller contended that Gov. Schwarzenegger and the legislators “screwed us, not taking into account the work of the coalition [a broad-based entertainment group that educated government about the issues involved] and instead opting for language floated by other entities into the budget. They circumvented the good work of the coalition and that doesn’t ultimately help anybody.”
The ultimate losers in all of this, continued Miller, are the people of California. “Commercials are an extremely important part of the industry. I’d like to remind the ‘Governator’ that when the Writers Guild decided to pull a bonehead move with their actor brethren doing the same thing, television and feature work dried up. The only thing in the filming economic engine keeping Hollywood alive has been commercials.”
Even at that, commercials have been down in California, migrating to other states which have incentives in place that cover spots. This decline is reflected in FilmL.A. permit statistics with on-location spot production down 11 percent in 2008 as compared to ’07 (SHOOT, 1/16).
Miller affirmed that an effective incentives program very much needs “to take into account the everyday production like commercials that is so vital to the economy.”
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More