Friday, April 25, 2008
State budget gives region bigger lure for film producers
Tax incentive grows to 30 percent
Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark has a potent new weapon in his fight to bring more movie projects to the area — a 30 percent tax credit.
The powerful new incentive comes courtesy of the 2008-09 New York State budget and was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. David
A. Paterson. The enhanced incentive — triple the credit it replaces — is something Clark and his colleagues around the state have been waiting for.
“Decisions on where to make movies has come down to a battle of the incentives and this is the weapon we’ve needed. It makes New York much more competitive,” Clark said.
The governor announced the signing of the economic incentive measure during the opening of New York City’s seventh annual Tribeca Film Festival.
“It is vital to our state’s economy that New York remains a premier destination for film and television productions,” Paterson said. “The entertainment industry plays an important role in fostering economic growth by promoting our state on movie and television screens across the world, and creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers.”
The ink on the new state budget, passed April 9, was barely dry when film industry representatives began making inquiries about the incentive boost, according to Clark.
“I was in Los Angeles for the international Locations Expo on the 10th and the New York State booth was buzzing with people asking about it,” Clark said. “We had two days of studio meetings after that and everybody wanted to talk to the New York teams.”
Clark said his phone at the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau has continued to ring with inquiries in the past week.
“We’ve lost dozens of projects to other states and Canada because we couldn’t compete on incentives and now we’re back in the game,” he said. “This is going to go a long way to drive film, TV and other video projects to Buffalo and the rest of Western New York.”
New York’s original 10 percent tax benefit, enacted in 2004, even when coupled with New York City’s additional five percent incentive, has paled in comparison with what the competitors have used as bait to lure in film and television projects.
Nearby states, such as Connecticut and Rhode Island, where incentives range up to 35 percent, won an increasing number of starring roles. Michigan recently enacted a 40 percent credit.
And Canada, particularly Ontario and British Columbia, have been dubbed “Hollywood North,” as producers have streamed across the border to take advantage of incentives ranging from 20-to 25 percent.
Earlier this year, incentive-rich Montreal, Quebec was selected over Buffalo to shoot “The Factory,” a film about a Buffalo Police homicide detective starring John Cusack. In an interview with The Buffalo News, the film’s executive producer Don Carmody said the decision to shoot in Canada was based on economics.
“It’s not Buffalo’s fault,” Carmody said. “In fact, we’d love to be shooting there if it made financial sense.”
That’s a refrain Buffalo has heard many times before. In the 2003 flick “Bruce Almighty,“ viewers saw Buffalo’s waterfront and skyline, but stars Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston shot their scenes in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Buffalo failed to make the screen at all in the 2007 flick “You Kill Me.” That movie, about a Buffalo hit man played by Ben Kingsley, was filmed entirely in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Clark said he’s already been contacted by a representative of Carmody’s Dark Castle Entertainment about future projects now that more generous incentives are available.
George McNellie, manager of communications for the Ontario Media Development Corporation, said he is aware of New York’s efforts to increase production incentives. The Ontario film office spokesman said there are additional reasons why the province has become a filming hotbed.
“Producers choose locations for all sorts of reasons — infrastructure, talent pool, post-production facilities — so we’re in pretty good shape,” McNellie said.
Under the new state incentive rules, production companies can apply for 20 percent rebates on “below-the-line” expenses, which include everything from costumes and catering, to crew salaries and transportation.
The new provisions also raise the aggregate amount that can be awarded under this credit during a calendar year from $60 million to $110 million over a six-year period. The credit cap will increase to $65 million in 2008, $75 million in 2009, $85 million in 2010, $90 million in 2011 and 2012, and $110 million in 2013.
Under the previous law, if the credit awarded exceeded the production company’s New York State tax liability during a given tax year, 50 percent of the excess was treated as an overpayment and refunded to the taxpayer, with the rest of the balance carried over to the next succeeding tax year. The new legislation refunds 100 percent of the excess credit up front at the end of the first tax year.
