Well, our hopes for a sequel to The Birdcage just got dampened. That's because a new bill that increases tax incentives to lure television and movie production to Florida would deny those tax breaks to films that feature gay characters. And unlike the ultraconservative Republican politician in The Birdcage, it doesn't seem the bill's sponsor, Rep. Stephen Precourt, will have a change of heart anytime soon.
Current laws prevent tax breaks for films that feature smoking, sex, nudity, or profane language. The proposed changes make Florida guidelines seem even more like the Hays Code that censored Hollywood from the the '30s to the '60s. Thankfully, Precourt hasn't borrowed more ideas from that censorship office and written in language that would also disallow interracial relationships, suggestive dancing, and "lustful kisses."
"Precourt says he's not targeting the gay community but that shows with gay characters would not be something he'd want 'to invest public dollars in,' " reports the Associated Press.
Besides not offering tax breaks to films that "exhibit or implied act" of nontraditional family values, films with gratuitous violence would also be left out.
In recent years, Florida has slipped from third in the country in terms of film production, only behind California and New York, to out of the top ten. Other states have aggressively offered more generous tax credits.
Recently, the cast and crew of the show Burn Notice, one of the few TV shows to actually shoot in Florida, lobbied the legislature to increase tax incentives for show business productions. They claim they've paid nearly $25 million in wages to Floridians and booked more than 7,000 nights in hotel rooms during the shooting of the show. The show received about $5.2 million in tax breaks last fiscal year but could find itself out of luck depending on how the "gratuitous violence" clause is interpreted and wouldn't be free to introduce LGBT characters.
The bill, which also has a companion bill in the Senate, still has to go through various committees before it reaches the House floor. - Kyle Munzenrieder
Showing posts with label Tax Credits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tax Credits. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
New York proposes new Incentive Rules
According to an email alert from The Incentives Office, the new New York State film and TV credit was approved by the legislature as part of a new budget, which is awaiting signature from Governor Patterson. However, there are notable changes to the way in which the credit will be dispersed. From their email:
.
The $350M is an additional allocation to their state tax credit program which ran out of funding last month, and the percentages (state - 30% and city - 5%) remain the same. The major change is the manner in which the rebates will be paid out. For credits under $1M, the incentive will be paid in the following year; for incentives between $1MM - $5MM, the incentive will be paid over two years (1/2 each year) and for credits above $5M the credit will be paid in thirds (1/3 each year) over three years. Tax returns are required to be filed in the state for all of the rebate programs.
.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
New York extends film/TV tax break for one year
By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state has extended a 30 percent film and television production tax credit for one year, which the industry welcomed on Wednesday but said lacked the long-term certainty needed to attract business.
As part of a $132 billion budget unveiled on Tuesday aiming to tackle a two-year $17.7 billion deficit, New York Governor David Paterson and legislative leaders agreed to provide $350 million to extend the production tax break.
The budget has been passed by the lower house Assembly and is likely to be voted on by the Senate later this week.
The industry had been lobbying either for a multi-year extension or for the tax credit to be made permanent.
"We're pleased the legislature and the governor extended the program but disappointed that it's not a multi-year program, and we're hopeful that they will consider revisiting it before the end of the legislative session," said Vans Stevenson, senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
New York state implemented its 10 percent tax credit in 2004 and raised it to 30 percent last year. However, $460 million in funding that had been expected to last until 2013 was exhausted in less than a year and ran out in February.
As a result, Warner Bros. Television has moved production of its hit science-fiction series "Fringe" to Vancouver and no pilot shows are due to be filmed in New York this year, compared with 19 last year.
"New York belongs in front of the cameras," said Paterson. "In these challenging times, we must continue to make smart investments that create jobs, revive our economy and expand opportunities for all New Yorkers."
An Ernst and Young report forecast that between 2005 and 2010, television and film productions and related activities would generate about $2.7 billion in state and city tax revenues, compared with an estimated $690 million in state and city tax credits claimed during the same period.
The industry also created 7,031 direct jobs and 12,481 indirect jobs in 2007, the report showed.
New York state's 30 percent fully refundable credit is applied to the applicant's state tax return for the year in which the production was completed. New York City also offers an additional 5 percent production tax credit.
"The extension will help most existing shows to remain and it will be good for the movies that come to New York," said Alan Suna, chief executive of Silvercup Studios in the city's Queens borough.
"Where it falls short ... is a one-year deal does not help New York attract new television series and the new jobs that come along with it.
"The TV business is kind of the back bone of the business in New York," said Suna, whose studios are home to NBC's "30 Rock," Warner Bros. "Gossip Girl" and ABC's "Ugly Betty."
Tax breaks for film and television production have become an increasingly contentious issue amid the recession as some politicians believe studios and producers should not be backed by taxpayer dollars when movie ticket sales are up.
Citing strong box office trends -- global movie ticket sales rose five percent to a record $28.1 billion in 2008 -- U.S. lawmakers recently stripped away $246 million in federal tax breaks from the $900 billion economic stimulus plan.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state has extended a 30 percent film and television production tax credit for one year, which the industry welcomed on Wednesday but said lacked the long-term certainty needed to attract business.
As part of a $132 billion budget unveiled on Tuesday aiming to tackle a two-year $17.7 billion deficit, New York Governor David Paterson and legislative leaders agreed to provide $350 million to extend the production tax break.
The budget has been passed by the lower house Assembly and is likely to be voted on by the Senate later this week.
The industry had been lobbying either for a multi-year extension or for the tax credit to be made permanent.
"We're pleased the legislature and the governor extended the program but disappointed that it's not a multi-year program, and we're hopeful that they will consider revisiting it before the end of the legislative session," said Vans Stevenson, senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
New York state implemented its 10 percent tax credit in 2004 and raised it to 30 percent last year. However, $460 million in funding that had been expected to last until 2013 was exhausted in less than a year and ran out in February.
As a result, Warner Bros. Television has moved production of its hit science-fiction series "Fringe" to Vancouver and no pilot shows are due to be filmed in New York this year, compared with 19 last year.
"New York belongs in front of the cameras," said Paterson. "In these challenging times, we must continue to make smart investments that create jobs, revive our economy and expand opportunities for all New Yorkers."
An Ernst and Young report forecast that between 2005 and 2010, television and film productions and related activities would generate about $2.7 billion in state and city tax revenues, compared with an estimated $690 million in state and city tax credits claimed during the same period.
The industry also created 7,031 direct jobs and 12,481 indirect jobs in 2007, the report showed.
New York state's 30 percent fully refundable credit is applied to the applicant's state tax return for the year in which the production was completed. New York City also offers an additional 5 percent production tax credit.
"The extension will help most existing shows to remain and it will be good for the movies that come to New York," said Alan Suna, chief executive of Silvercup Studios in the city's Queens borough.
"Where it falls short ... is a one-year deal does not help New York attract new television series and the new jobs that come along with it.
"The TV business is kind of the back bone of the business in New York," said Suna, whose studios are home to NBC's "30 Rock," Warner Bros. "Gossip Girl" and ABC's "Ugly Betty."
Tax breaks for film and television production have become an increasingly contentious issue amid the recession as some politicians believe studios and producers should not be backed by taxpayer dollars when movie ticket sales are up.
Citing strong box office trends -- global movie ticket sales rose five percent to a record $28.1 billion in 2008 -- U.S. lawmakers recently stripped away $246 million in federal tax breaks from the $900 billion economic stimulus plan.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
N.Y. state eyes $350 mil for productions
from THR
New York would free up an additional $350 million for an existing film and TV production tax credit program under a budget agreement reached in Albany over the weekend. Industry folks said, though, that the funding is a small Band-Aid for the short-term rather than a long-term solution. Their main concern: The new funding won't attract and bind TV shows to the state, and it likely will run out within less than a year.
New York state lawmakers are set to vote on the budget bill by Wednesday, with political observers saying its passage is far from certain given a secretive budgeting process, small majorities in the legislature and a big budget deficit. Industry observers said the limited tax credit financing for productions in the Empire State could be a blow to New York's hopes to attract new TV shows and maybe even efforts to retain existing shows like "30 Rock."
"We are going to get work but not long-term commitments," said John Johnston, executive director of the New York Production Alliance. "There is no long-term guarantee for TV shows that want to come to the state."
He did say, however, that NYPA is "very grateful that the state recognized the importance of the industry."
Industry reps have been pushing hard to renew funding for the state's popular 30% tax credit on below-the-line production costs that runs through 2013 and had attracted films and TV shows to the Empire State. They have been fighting for unlimited funding, pointing to the financial benefit the program has brought to the state. They have also argued that productions, especially in TV, need planning security when putting together their budgets and deciding on a location.
The new funding provision, however, is capped, and industry observers expect the money to run out quickly. Last year alone, the state allocated $460 million in tax incentives. The state's previous $690 million tax incentives program ran out of money earlier this year because of its popularity, and Gov. David Paterson's budget draft this year included no new funding. Industry folks have lobbied the State Assembly and Senate to add more funding, pointing to an Ernst & Young study that showed the positive effect of the tax credits on the state's tax revenue and employment.
New York hasn't attracted new TV projects since the incentives program ran out of funding. Also, pilots have moved to neighboring or nearby states such as New Jersey and Rhode Island. ABC moved its pilot for "Empire State" to the latter, for example. Stuart Suna, president of Silvercup Studios, said he doesn't expect New York to attract any new TV shows this season given the funding cap.
"New York state really lost out on a big opportunity because (film and TV) is one of America's biggest exports, and productions keep people employed and bring in tax revenue," he said.
Johnston and Suna said the industry will continue to push for legislation outside the budget bill that would provide unlimited funding for the production incentives.
"We certainly don't want to wait until next year's budget to talk about this," Johnston said. "This is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution."
Industry folks point out that the incentives get paid out long after the state gets additional tax revenue from productions, which also employ more people. This means the tax credits are a boon for the state at a time of declining tax revenue and gaping budget holes due to the recession. The Ernst & Young report found that for 2007, New York's incentives program created and retained 7,031 industry jobs in New York, or 19,512 when including other sectors. The study also found that production credits amounting to $184 million for the year led to added state taxes of $209 million. For 2004-10, the study predicted $2 billion in added revenue from incentive-related economic activity in the state.
"This is an economic engine, but it needs fuel," Johnston said.
New York would free up an additional $350 million for an existing film and TV production tax credit program under a budget agreement reached in Albany over the weekend. Industry folks said, though, that the funding is a small Band-Aid for the short-term rather than a long-term solution. Their main concern: The new funding won't attract and bind TV shows to the state, and it likely will run out within less than a year.
New York state lawmakers are set to vote on the budget bill by Wednesday, with political observers saying its passage is far from certain given a secretive budgeting process, small majorities in the legislature and a big budget deficit. Industry observers said the limited tax credit financing for productions in the Empire State could be a blow to New York's hopes to attract new TV shows and maybe even efforts to retain existing shows like "30 Rock."
"We are going to get work but not long-term commitments," said John Johnston, executive director of the New York Production Alliance. "There is no long-term guarantee for TV shows that want to come to the state."
He did say, however, that NYPA is "very grateful that the state recognized the importance of the industry."
Industry reps have been pushing hard to renew funding for the state's popular 30% tax credit on below-the-line production costs that runs through 2013 and had attracted films and TV shows to the Empire State. They have been fighting for unlimited funding, pointing to the financial benefit the program has brought to the state. They have also argued that productions, especially in TV, need planning security when putting together their budgets and deciding on a location.
The new funding provision, however, is capped, and industry observers expect the money to run out quickly. Last year alone, the state allocated $460 million in tax incentives. The state's previous $690 million tax incentives program ran out of money earlier this year because of its popularity, and Gov. David Paterson's budget draft this year included no new funding. Industry folks have lobbied the State Assembly and Senate to add more funding, pointing to an Ernst & Young study that showed the positive effect of the tax credits on the state's tax revenue and employment.
New York hasn't attracted new TV projects since the incentives program ran out of funding. Also, pilots have moved to neighboring or nearby states such as New Jersey and Rhode Island. ABC moved its pilot for "Empire State" to the latter, for example. Stuart Suna, president of Silvercup Studios, said he doesn't expect New York to attract any new TV shows this season given the funding cap.
"New York state really lost out on a big opportunity because (film and TV) is one of America's biggest exports, and productions keep people employed and bring in tax revenue," he said.
Johnston and Suna said the industry will continue to push for legislation outside the budget bill that would provide unlimited funding for the production incentives.
"We certainly don't want to wait until next year's budget to talk about this," Johnston said. "This is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution."
Industry folks point out that the incentives get paid out long after the state gets additional tax revenue from productions, which also employ more people. This means the tax credits are a boon for the state at a time of declining tax revenue and gaping budget holes due to the recession. The Ernst & Young report found that for 2007, New York's incentives program created and retained 7,031 industry jobs in New York, or 19,512 when including other sectors. The study also found that production credits amounting to $184 million for the year led to added state taxes of $209 million. For 2004-10, the study predicted $2 billion in added revenue from incentive-related economic activity in the state.
"This is an economic engine, but it needs fuel," Johnston said.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Ted Hope: New York Tax Credits Stall Out
Independent filmmaker Ted Hope calls filmmakers to action on the first of many disasters the New York film industry MUST pro-actively attack.
"I love New York City and hope I never have to call anywhere else my home. I am regularly reminded of all that I love about this town and the reasons why I first moved here. I never expected it to be easy to make movies here, but I did think it would be a positively progressive pursuit. Unfortunately, I am consistently reminded how all of us who make their living creating motion picture content are easily broadsided by that which we should be most cognizant of: the policies and regulations that affect our ability to earn a living (let alone create good work).
Whether on the local, state, or federal level—or simply in the standard practices in our industry or the polices of the tools (Facebook, various video posting sites, etc.) we utilize—we appear collectively to be ignorant of crucial issues until after they occur. Sometimes after-the-fact is not too late, as was evidenced over five years ago when New York producers joined together to break the MPAA’s anti-trust-violating “Screener Ban.” Yet in these harsh economic times, it is even more crucial that we are vigilant about what is going on around us, and wherever possible we must quickly join together in a unified response against those that attack our livelihood.
All New York filmmakers—and those dependent on them—got a quick lesson two weeks ago, when we learned that the New York tax credits had run out of money. It hit everyone as a shock, but did it really need to? It couldn’t have come as a surprise that $500M was gone—or that it was being spent far quicker than expected. This wasn’t some sort of Madoff swindle. It was something that was easy to calculate or predict if you knew what films and TV shows were shooting in the state. But it seems that no one was doing that calculation. I wasn’t. Our politicians evidently weren’t. And neither were our industry’s leaders, organizations, or guilds. What’s up with that?
Nonetheless, I was particularly impressed with how quickly the community responded to this problem. Derek Yip, a production accountant, authored a petition, and Alex Zablocki quickly created a Facebook community (Save New York State’s TV and Film Tax Credits), gathered over 8000 signatures and forwarded them to Governor Paterson. Unfortunately, the fact that we allowed ourselves to be in this situation in the first place gave our West Coast brethren the added impetus to finally pass some film tax credit laws of their own. Our ability to attract new productions—and all the jobs and additional revenue that come with them—has just been significantly diminished. Each passing week—as the question of whether the New York credits will even be reinstated goes unanswered—the chances of productions running away to other locales increases.
It has long been my dream to create an ultimate film love letter to this city I call home. My producing partner and I recently had the good fortune to become involved in just such a project. It covers the city and puts some of my favorite elements and dream locations on display. Just as we have started to pull it together, the tax rebates have run dry, and we now have to think of taking it to Chicago or Los Angeles or even Canada! It is a sad day in Mudville, but the tears are particularly resonant as this is neither a super low-budget nor a big studio film. The project in question is the kind of well-budgeted, specialized film geared towards an international audience that I pursue. It is the kind of film that sells New York to the world over, all the while hopefully establishing a new group of New York filmmakers and actors that continue to bring our city residual good will. Well, it could be that kind of film, or it could do that for another city and state.
When I first decided I was going to make movies, my first decision was to move to New York City. It was the history of great New York movies by great New York directors that brought me here. The NYC culture was like honey to a bee for me. When I was about to graduate from NYU film school, I was worried about my future (oh, how little things change). I was worried if I would be able to get to make the kind of movies I wanted to. Within a two-week period, I encountered Fran McDormand and The Coen Brothers (who I realized were my neighbors), Spike Lee (promoting She's Gotta Have It in front of the theater where it would soon premiere), and Jim Jarmusch (entering the same subway that I rode daily). These shoulder brushes meant the world to me; they were the filmmakers who were making the kind of films I aspired to, and they seemed to be living lives very similar to mine. If they could make it work, maybe I could too.
I have found this city to be the greatest creative inspiration for me, but who can really afford to remain here anymore? It is expensive to live here. It is expensive to shoot here. The tax credits were the great leveler: they brought full employment to the filmmaking community, and they brought the costs of filming down for the financiers.
The cycle of each generation of NYC filmmakers recruiting the next is in jeopardy—and with that we can expect fewer films will be made in our city. Filmmakers will always be able to make the super low budget films here, but will they be able to make the ones that are decently financed enough to catapult them to the world stage? Will they even be able to afford to live here?
Those initial encounters with New York’s great new wave of filmmakers filled me with hope and kept me wed to our mean streets for several decades. I have never taken a movie to Canada (or to any location for that matter) simply to make it cheaper—only ever because the story demanded it. I steadfastly believe that local producers can make a much better movie, dollar for dollar—hell, even dollar for ninety cents!—in New York, regardless of whatever other hassles the city may require. Yet now, when we are faced with both astronomical costs of living and a thirty-percent budget discrepancy, it is not just making a movie cheaper that is the question—it is an entirely different movie one has to consider. Sadly, there is no comparison.
Where does all this leave us now? We can look at the bright side and see how fast our community responded, but we know that is not enough. We can look at the hard reality and recognize the precarious position we find ourselves in: with new competition from California and other states, and a huge shortfall in our state budget to contend with. We can look at the obvious and see the huge economic benefit the tax credits have brought the state, and just hope that this is enough to put us back on the right track. We can look at the huge residual benefits the New York film industry bestows on our city and pray that our officials reciprocate the favor. But will any of this be enough?
There is so much work to be done advocating on our industry’s behalf, and seemingly very few doing it. How can we all make part of this work part of our daily lives? How much should we rely on policy to protect and improve our industry? Surely affordable health care, education, and housing would go a long way for all of us to pursue our craft.
With the system as it is, it is a wonder we have any artists left: students graduate from college with heavy loans weighing on them and there are no jobs for them to get. They return to grad school, hoping that the employment situation will improve in two years, but they increase their debt significantly. They finish graduate school with a now-colossal debt and unable to afford health care and housing. The only sensible pursuit seems to be the high-paying gigs in finance or the corporate world. We are depleting our creative class and corresponding culture before it has had a chance to flourish.
There is nothing resembling government funding for the arts to begin to entice artists to enter the field. To compound our problems, Saturday comes along and the last thing audiences want to do is spend money on a film funded by the corporate committee hellbent on chancing last year’s hits—or made by the children of privilege who did not have the financial burden the rest of us did. These movies don’t resemble our reality. Even art film audiences feel they might as well steal a movie off the Internet, since they are forced to live out in the middle of nowhere (in the housing they can afford) and the corporations don’t see fit to offer screenings in places other than the dead center of major media markets anyway. If we don’t find a platform and delivery system to solve this dilemma, the consumer will decimate what’s left of our industry as they did the music business.
Don’t get me wrong: there are many reasons to be hopeful for the future of independent film. In fact I listed 52 of them on my TrulyFreeFilm blog at the start of the year, and have had a good number of other folks chime in with additional reasons. Nonetheless, the challenges before us are too great to ignore. Beyond the rudimentary requirements of health, housing, and education, our industry has a great deal to worry about:
-Net Neutrality—Our ability to access and distribute work and ideas, organize around it, is dependent on this core democratic principle.
-Media Consolidation—The lack of an antitrust action has created an environment that is virtually impossible to compete in.
-Labor Union Stability—The unrest of this year across the guilds has helped no one.
-Copyright Law Revision—The rules are antiquated, protecting corporate interests over the creators, while limiting the audience's access to new art forms.
-Copyright Protection—The blatant disregard for artists' rights across the Internet make a bad situation even worse.
-Government Funding For The Arts (or lack thereof)—The only work artists can expect to be compensated for are the most blatantly commercial endeavors.
-Social Network Rules—The Draconian control different networks exert over user content does not bode well for community hopes of sharing information and content.
-Data Portability—Everyone’s right to the information their work generates is a necessary principle if artists are ever going to have a direct relationship with their audiences.
-Demystification of Distribution and Exhibition Practices—The last twenty years were about demystifying the production process, but there will be no true independence unless the cycle is made complete.
-Exhibition Booking Policies and Practices Revision—Distributors require exhibitors to book on full weeks, restricting their ability to become true community centers, providing their audiences with what they want, when they want it.
-New Blood Recruitment for Distribution and Exhibition—Since virtually all of the specialized distribution and exhibition entities are run by people who came of age in the days of pure theatrical exhibition, they yearn for a return to those days and are resistant to new practices.
-Ratings Structure—The current system is not applicable to the diverse work being made today.
-Loss of Film Critics’ Old Media Platforms—Our critics were our curators, letting audiences know what to see when, and now most have been fired. Where will our new curators be found? We’ve started HammerToNail to help audiences find the best in true indie American narrative work, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
-Filmmaker Re-education for this New Media Universe—Let’s face it, we are all a bunch of Luddites. Until we recognize what tools are available and how to use them, we are depriving both ourselves and our audiences from the quality of work we all deserve.
-Creation of Indie Film Promotional Portals—How can we see good work when we don’t even know it exists?
-Broadband Availability and Strength—America lags behind the rest of the developed world not just in terms of broadband penetration, but also in the quality and level of that broadband service.
-Digital Film Archive—As more and more filmmakers move to a digital medium to both originate and finish that work, how will this work be preserved for future generations?
-Indie Film History Archive—The history and process of how this work we are now creating will be remembered will be impossible without some joint effort to preserve it.
The list goes on. The questions are: Who is going to lead? Where will the structure come from? How can we prevent disasters before they occur? And what are we going to do about it on an individual basis? It is not enough to just sign another Internet petition after the disaster strikes." —Ted Hope, February 22, 2009
"I love New York City and hope I never have to call anywhere else my home. I am regularly reminded of all that I love about this town and the reasons why I first moved here. I never expected it to be easy to make movies here, but I did think it would be a positively progressive pursuit. Unfortunately, I am consistently reminded how all of us who make their living creating motion picture content are easily broadsided by that which we should be most cognizant of: the policies and regulations that affect our ability to earn a living (let alone create good work).
Whether on the local, state, or federal level—or simply in the standard practices in our industry or the polices of the tools (Facebook, various video posting sites, etc.) we utilize—we appear collectively to be ignorant of crucial issues until after they occur. Sometimes after-the-fact is not too late, as was evidenced over five years ago when New York producers joined together to break the MPAA’s anti-trust-violating “Screener Ban.” Yet in these harsh economic times, it is even more crucial that we are vigilant about what is going on around us, and wherever possible we must quickly join together in a unified response against those that attack our livelihood.
All New York filmmakers—and those dependent on them—got a quick lesson two weeks ago, when we learned that the New York tax credits had run out of money. It hit everyone as a shock, but did it really need to? It couldn’t have come as a surprise that $500M was gone—or that it was being spent far quicker than expected. This wasn’t some sort of Madoff swindle. It was something that was easy to calculate or predict if you knew what films and TV shows were shooting in the state. But it seems that no one was doing that calculation. I wasn’t. Our politicians evidently weren’t. And neither were our industry’s leaders, organizations, or guilds. What’s up with that?
Nonetheless, I was particularly impressed with how quickly the community responded to this problem. Derek Yip, a production accountant, authored a petition, and Alex Zablocki quickly created a Facebook community (Save New York State’s TV and Film Tax Credits), gathered over 8000 signatures and forwarded them to Governor Paterson. Unfortunately, the fact that we allowed ourselves to be in this situation in the first place gave our West Coast brethren the added impetus to finally pass some film tax credit laws of their own. Our ability to attract new productions—and all the jobs and additional revenue that come with them—has just been significantly diminished. Each passing week—as the question of whether the New York credits will even be reinstated goes unanswered—the chances of productions running away to other locales increases.
It has long been my dream to create an ultimate film love letter to this city I call home. My producing partner and I recently had the good fortune to become involved in just such a project. It covers the city and puts some of my favorite elements and dream locations on display. Just as we have started to pull it together, the tax rebates have run dry, and we now have to think of taking it to Chicago or Los Angeles or even Canada! It is a sad day in Mudville, but the tears are particularly resonant as this is neither a super low-budget nor a big studio film. The project in question is the kind of well-budgeted, specialized film geared towards an international audience that I pursue. It is the kind of film that sells New York to the world over, all the while hopefully establishing a new group of New York filmmakers and actors that continue to bring our city residual good will. Well, it could be that kind of film, or it could do that for another city and state.
When I first decided I was going to make movies, my first decision was to move to New York City. It was the history of great New York movies by great New York directors that brought me here. The NYC culture was like honey to a bee for me. When I was about to graduate from NYU film school, I was worried about my future (oh, how little things change). I was worried if I would be able to get to make the kind of movies I wanted to. Within a two-week period, I encountered Fran McDormand and The Coen Brothers (who I realized were my neighbors), Spike Lee (promoting She's Gotta Have It in front of the theater where it would soon premiere), and Jim Jarmusch (entering the same subway that I rode daily). These shoulder brushes meant the world to me; they were the filmmakers who were making the kind of films I aspired to, and they seemed to be living lives very similar to mine. If they could make it work, maybe I could too.
I have found this city to be the greatest creative inspiration for me, but who can really afford to remain here anymore? It is expensive to live here. It is expensive to shoot here. The tax credits were the great leveler: they brought full employment to the filmmaking community, and they brought the costs of filming down for the financiers.
The cycle of each generation of NYC filmmakers recruiting the next is in jeopardy—and with that we can expect fewer films will be made in our city. Filmmakers will always be able to make the super low budget films here, but will they be able to make the ones that are decently financed enough to catapult them to the world stage? Will they even be able to afford to live here?
Those initial encounters with New York’s great new wave of filmmakers filled me with hope and kept me wed to our mean streets for several decades. I have never taken a movie to Canada (or to any location for that matter) simply to make it cheaper—only ever because the story demanded it. I steadfastly believe that local producers can make a much better movie, dollar for dollar—hell, even dollar for ninety cents!—in New York, regardless of whatever other hassles the city may require. Yet now, when we are faced with both astronomical costs of living and a thirty-percent budget discrepancy, it is not just making a movie cheaper that is the question—it is an entirely different movie one has to consider. Sadly, there is no comparison.
Where does all this leave us now? We can look at the bright side and see how fast our community responded, but we know that is not enough. We can look at the hard reality and recognize the precarious position we find ourselves in: with new competition from California and other states, and a huge shortfall in our state budget to contend with. We can look at the obvious and see the huge economic benefit the tax credits have brought the state, and just hope that this is enough to put us back on the right track. We can look at the huge residual benefits the New York film industry bestows on our city and pray that our officials reciprocate the favor. But will any of this be enough?
There is so much work to be done advocating on our industry’s behalf, and seemingly very few doing it. How can we all make part of this work part of our daily lives? How much should we rely on policy to protect and improve our industry? Surely affordable health care, education, and housing would go a long way for all of us to pursue our craft.
With the system as it is, it is a wonder we have any artists left: students graduate from college with heavy loans weighing on them and there are no jobs for them to get. They return to grad school, hoping that the employment situation will improve in two years, but they increase their debt significantly. They finish graduate school with a now-colossal debt and unable to afford health care and housing. The only sensible pursuit seems to be the high-paying gigs in finance or the corporate world. We are depleting our creative class and corresponding culture before it has had a chance to flourish.
There is nothing resembling government funding for the arts to begin to entice artists to enter the field. To compound our problems, Saturday comes along and the last thing audiences want to do is spend money on a film funded by the corporate committee hellbent on chancing last year’s hits—or made by the children of privilege who did not have the financial burden the rest of us did. These movies don’t resemble our reality. Even art film audiences feel they might as well steal a movie off the Internet, since they are forced to live out in the middle of nowhere (in the housing they can afford) and the corporations don’t see fit to offer screenings in places other than the dead center of major media markets anyway. If we don’t find a platform and delivery system to solve this dilemma, the consumer will decimate what’s left of our industry as they did the music business.
Don’t get me wrong: there are many reasons to be hopeful for the future of independent film. In fact I listed 52 of them on my TrulyFreeFilm blog at the start of the year, and have had a good number of other folks chime in with additional reasons. Nonetheless, the challenges before us are too great to ignore. Beyond the rudimentary requirements of health, housing, and education, our industry has a great deal to worry about:
-Net Neutrality—Our ability to access and distribute work and ideas, organize around it, is dependent on this core democratic principle.
-Media Consolidation—The lack of an antitrust action has created an environment that is virtually impossible to compete in.
-Labor Union Stability—The unrest of this year across the guilds has helped no one.
-Copyright Law Revision—The rules are antiquated, protecting corporate interests over the creators, while limiting the audience's access to new art forms.
-Copyright Protection—The blatant disregard for artists' rights across the Internet make a bad situation even worse.
-Government Funding For The Arts (or lack thereof)—The only work artists can expect to be compensated for are the most blatantly commercial endeavors.
-Social Network Rules—The Draconian control different networks exert over user content does not bode well for community hopes of sharing information and content.
-Data Portability—Everyone’s right to the information their work generates is a necessary principle if artists are ever going to have a direct relationship with their audiences.
-Demystification of Distribution and Exhibition Practices—The last twenty years were about demystifying the production process, but there will be no true independence unless the cycle is made complete.
-Exhibition Booking Policies and Practices Revision—Distributors require exhibitors to book on full weeks, restricting their ability to become true community centers, providing their audiences with what they want, when they want it.
-New Blood Recruitment for Distribution and Exhibition—Since virtually all of the specialized distribution and exhibition entities are run by people who came of age in the days of pure theatrical exhibition, they yearn for a return to those days and are resistant to new practices.
-Ratings Structure—The current system is not applicable to the diverse work being made today.
-Loss of Film Critics’ Old Media Platforms—Our critics were our curators, letting audiences know what to see when, and now most have been fired. Where will our new curators be found? We’ve started HammerToNail to help audiences find the best in true indie American narrative work, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
-Filmmaker Re-education for this New Media Universe—Let’s face it, we are all a bunch of Luddites. Until we recognize what tools are available and how to use them, we are depriving both ourselves and our audiences from the quality of work we all deserve.
-Creation of Indie Film Promotional Portals—How can we see good work when we don’t even know it exists?
-Broadband Availability and Strength—America lags behind the rest of the developed world not just in terms of broadband penetration, but also in the quality and level of that broadband service.
-Digital Film Archive—As more and more filmmakers move to a digital medium to both originate and finish that work, how will this work be preserved for future generations?
-Indie Film History Archive—The history and process of how this work we are now creating will be remembered will be impossible without some joint effort to preserve it.
The list goes on. The questions are: Who is going to lead? Where will the structure come from? How can we prevent disasters before they occur? And what are we going to do about it on an individual basis? It is not enough to just sign another Internet petition after the disaster strikes." —Ted Hope, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Dropping Like Flies (2)
A few more of my colleagues have informed me that their films have lost funding due to the lack of New York State Tax Credits, now bringing the total number crew without work to 419. If we include the projected SAG Actors each film was going to work with, it brings the number to an estimated 500.
Times are tough for all of us, but every event is transient. This too shall pass.
Times are tough for all of us, but every event is transient. This too shall pass.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Dropping Like Flies
Recently, New York State has announced that there is no additional funding for the state tax credits included in their latest budget proposal. New York City has played a major, major role in the entertainment industry over the past few years. There is currently a petition to save the tax credits circling the net, and it lists a vital fact that anyone in the Government these days shouldn't ignore: According to a 2007 study by Ernst and Young, the state and city combined have issued $690 million in tax credits and have collected $2.7 billion in taxes from movie and television productions. This program pays for itself! It helped create over 7,000 jobs, directly, in 2007 and over 12,000 jobs indirectly. The Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting reports that in 2002, there were 14,858 NYC location shooting days and in 2008, we reached over 27,250 days. There is a direct correlation between the growth of this industry and the tax credits provided from the state.
In these tough economic times, its understandable why a few government programs would need to be cut, and spending tailed off. However, its is unwise to cut back spending when those programs create jobs. I think its safe to assume that the Governor's office doesn't quite understand the implications of removing the tax credits, nor may they see the connection between tax credits the projects. As someone using Tax Credits in other states to raise funding, I can say first hand that they are an essential interest for any investor, and despite what the project actually is, the majority of our investors wanted strictly to take advantage of the State Tax Credits and Federal 181.
In the past 24 hours, I have been in contact with a few colleagues from New York, still working on projects there, or I should say, WERE working on projects there. Since the announcement that the New York State Tax Credits won't be making an appearance anytime soon, SIX projects in pre-production have shut down. Their investors were investing in large part due to the Tax Credits and now it is not that lucrative for them. With the help of each project, we tallied the number of people all the projects employ: 288 People.. That's almost 300 people now without jobs. 5 out of 6 of these projects were being made between 1 & 2 Million Dollars, the 6th had a budget of 650k.
This is very unsettling news for anyone and already New York has seen an immediate reaction. Please take the time to sign the petition. I just did, it takes less than 20 seconds.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Zablocki/petition.html
In these tough economic times, its understandable why a few government programs would need to be cut, and spending tailed off. However, its is unwise to cut back spending when those programs create jobs. I think its safe to assume that the Governor's office doesn't quite understand the implications of removing the tax credits, nor may they see the connection between tax credits the projects. As someone using Tax Credits in other states to raise funding, I can say first hand that they are an essential interest for any investor, and despite what the project actually is, the majority of our investors wanted strictly to take advantage of the State Tax Credits and Federal 181.
In the past 24 hours, I have been in contact with a few colleagues from New York, still working on projects there, or I should say, WERE working on projects there. Since the announcement that the New York State Tax Credits won't be making an appearance anytime soon, SIX projects in pre-production have shut down. Their investors were investing in large part due to the Tax Credits and now it is not that lucrative for them. With the help of each project, we tallied the number of people all the projects employ: 288 People.. That's almost 300 people now without jobs. 5 out of 6 of these projects were being made between 1 & 2 Million Dollars, the 6th had a budget of 650k.
This is very unsettling news for anyone and already New York has seen an immediate reaction. Please take the time to sign the petition. I just did, it takes less than 20 seconds.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Zablocki/petition.html
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