Fusing rap and tax returns is not for mainstream media, but it works very well online, Intuit demonstrated on April 15, when “It’s Just a Breeze G,” the $25,000 Grand Prize winning video in The TurboTax Tax Rap contest, played on YouTube.
“It’s pretty interesting for a financial company to feel comfortable doing this,” said Seth Greenberg, Intuit’s group manager of online advertising and Internet media. “The goal was to engage a broad array of tax payers.”
The idea wasn’t to create an ad from the winning video that can be played on TV, but a video that played on YouTube, which has an audience that rivals TV.
“We executed a home page takeover on YouTube on April 15 that drew over 10 million views and 250,000 downloaded the video,” Greenberg said.
YouTube also hosted the contest, which ran from February 8 to March 30 and drew 370 submissions. YouTube visitors selected the top 13 videos and Vanilla Ice, the popular rapper, chose the winner.
It’s a video by Zeke O’Donnell and Christian Pulfer, associate editors with Fluid, the New York-based music and editorial company that has done work for HP, Bank of America and Red Stripe Beer. O’Donnell shot the video, and Fluid composer Judson Crane wrote the rap music. Pulfer starred in the video as the rapper who uses TurboTax to get a big refund: “Cuz if you need a dollar, holler, cuz I got a lot back,” he sings, gleefully.
The crew used a Sony VX1000 camera to shoot the video throughout New York City, “from Soho to Redhook to Park Slope to the roof of fluid on Broadway,” Pulfer said. The video uses a combination of indoor and outdoor shots to follow the main character as he relates his experience and demonstrates how to use TurboTax. A number of “compositing tricks” were used, according to Pulfer, including reverse footage that shows money flying into Pulfer’s hands and the insertion of the TurboTax logo with After Effects.
The winning video played on Youtube on April 15, but the excitement continues with a rap off now taking place between Fluid and a team of rival video creators who believe they should have won. “It has an afterlife, with the rap off and the stories that are coming out,” Greenberg said. “They’re blogging about it. It’s the perfect example of using this channel in a way that resonates.”
Gov. Newsom Proposes Expansion Of Californiaโs Tax Credit Program For Film and TV Production
Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed expanding Californiaโs Film & Television Tax Credit Program from the current $330 million annual allocation to $750 million annually. The massive increase to the program, which is administered by the California Film Commission (CFC), would allow California to outpace other states offering tax credits, luring more entertainment industry projects back to the Golden State.
โCalifornia is the entertainment capital of the world, rooted in decades of creativity, innovation and unparalleled talent,โ Governor Newsom said. โExpanding this program will help keep production here at home, generate thousands of good paying jobs, and strengthen the vital link between our communities and the stateโs iconic film and TV industry.โ
โCalifornia needs to keep pace with competing states and nations in providing aggressive tax incentives,โ said Colleen Bell, director of the California Film Commission. โThe Governorโs bold plan will accelerate these efforts and assure California remains the production center of the entertainment industry.โ
The economic value of increased production pays dividends on different fronts:
--A study of the tax credit program found that, for every tax credit dollar approved, it generated and created at least $24.40 in output, $16.14 in GDP, $8.60 in wages, and $1.07 in initial state and local tax revenue resulting from production in the state.
--Since its inception in 2009, Californiaโs Film & Television Tax Credit Program has generated over $26 billion in economic activity and supported more than 197,000 cast and crew jobs across the state.
According to Bell, the program has been oversubscribed year after year, with more productions applying than can be... Read More