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Brand New Report Confirms California Has Most Cost Effective FIlm Incentive

February 2, 2012
Brand New Report Confirms California Has Most Cost Effective FIlm Incentive

The Film Works blog just broke news about the newest report on the California Film & Television Tax Credit program.  The report, from UCLA and the Headway project, is available in the Report Library of this site under California.  I strongly recommend everyone read the actual report in full. From the Film Works article:...

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If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed)

January 20, 2012
If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed)

Sad news from Michigan.  But many, including myself, saw this one coming from the beginning.  Raleigh’s Pontiac Studios, the flagship state-of-the-art $80 million studio complex is reportedly going to default on a bond payment next month and, tragically, the state’s pension funds are on...

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The Flawed Economic Thinking of Film Incentive Supporters….

December 16, 2011
The Flawed Economic Thinking of Film Incentive Supporters….

The Film Works campaign just posted a fantastic, easy to digest, article that destroys the economic thinking employed by film incentive supporters around the nation.  They use a PSA made for New Mexico as an example and then deconstruct it.  To be sure, the...

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Runaway Production vs. Content Theft: Which Is the Bigger Threat to Film Jobs

December 15, 2011

I tend to stay out of the debate about copyright and online piracy.  For the major studios in Hollywood, led by the MPAA, piracy is the monolithic issue, especially because of pending legislation in DC that has pitted Hollywood and Silicon Valley against each...

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As Cost-Per-Job Explodes Under Mass. Film Incentive, The Costly Nightmare May Have Something to Teach…

November 20, 2011

This is Part One of a series of articles about state film incentive programs in the United States….. A few days ago, I posted the new report from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) to study the economic impact of the state’s film incentive...

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Economic Impact of NBA Lockout Dwarfed by Runaway Production in L.A.; Mass. Film Spending Dives 82%

November 15, 2011
Economic Impact of NBA Lockout Dwarfed by Runaway Production in L.A.; Mass. Film Spending Dives 82%

The Film Works blog posted an astonishg article today about the negative impact to the economy of an NBA lockout vs. the loss of film productions to other states and nations.  In what should really help drive the message home to California residents of...

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Runaway Production at its Worst: New Tom Sawyer Film Shot in Bulgaria

October 19, 2011
Runaway Production at its Worst: New Tom Sawyer Film Shot in Bulgaria

William Faulkner called Mark Twain “the father of American literature” and Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is considered one of the greatest American novels ever written.  Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River.  Hannibal (which is portrayed...

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When it Comes to Runaway Production, California Needs to Get a Clue

September 8, 2011
When it Comes to Runaway Production, California Needs to Get a Clue

It’s time for California to wake up.  California is under attack. In the late 1990′s, Canada devised generous film incentives in the form of tax credits as a weapon to wage economic war on the U.S. in an attempt to capture one of the...

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Calculating the Economic Impact of Film Tourism in North Carolina–Ernst & Young Sinks to New Low

August 24, 2011
Calculating the Economic Impact of Film Tourism in North Carolina–Ernst & Young Sinks to New Low

It’s time for some “deleted scenes” that will not be making it into the final version of my forthcoming law review article, “Down the Rabbit Hole: The Madness of State Film Incentives as a ‘Solution’ to Runaway Production“, which will be published by the...

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The Economic Impact of One Film In California

August 11, 2011

There is a fantastic post on the Film Works blog that has a fairly detailed breakdown of the major expenditures of a major film production that spent $20.2 million over 93 days shooting in Los Angeles in 2009.  Here is a sample of the...

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Shameful LA Times Column by Michael Hiltzik Met With New First: An Appropriate MPAA Response

July 21, 2011

A war of words between the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Hiltzik, the LAEDC and the MPAA has erupted over Hiltzik’s recent editorial attacking the LAEDC’s recent report about the California film incentive.  In short, Hiltzik is of the opinion that because of the mere...

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Detroit Free Press: Worst Coverage of Film Incentive Program Ever

July 5, 2011
Detroit Free Press: Worst Coverage of Film Incentive Program Ever

The incompetence at the Detroit Free Press is breathtaking.  Who is running this newspaper?  I am just waiting to see them start quoting Wikipedia. Over the weekend were two gems in their film incentive “news reporting”.  The first was from an article about using...

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MPAA Blog vs. MPAA Research Page: How Many People Work in Louisiana Film Biz?

June 30, 2011
MPAA Blog vs. MPAA Research Page: How Many People Work in Louisiana Film Biz?

The MPAA blog is making for some interesting, if not frustrating, reading.  For example, in a post about Louisiana today, MPAA blogger Kate Spence wrote the following: Now third in line behind California and New York for the number of productions produced, Louisiana’s motion...

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California Film & TV Tax Credit Proving to be Most Cost Effective Incentive Program in U.S.

June 29, 2011
California Film & TV Tax Credit Proving to be Most Cost Effective Incentive Program in U.S.

Below is the first half of the Film Works campaign’s analysis of the brand new LAEDC study on the economic impact of the California film incentive.  It is quite thorough and is a honest appraisal of the report, which some people are attempting to...

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MPAA’s Response to Film Incentive Report is a Bad Hollywood Remake

June 21, 2011
MPAA’s Response to Film Incentive Report is a Bad Hollywood Remake

I don’t want to keep being critical of the MPAA, but the organization just keeps making mistakes.  They really need to change the way they sell the idea of film incentives.  They need to stop making claims film incentives generate revenue for states because...

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