So it turns out Michael Moore is putting the “corporate welfare” money he received from the Michigan film incentive program to good use. I posted about this story some time ago HERE, where Moore’s stance on the credits is discussed. According to an AP article, Moore is doing the following:
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — For generations, Americans viewed films in stately, single-screen theaters that were pillars of city business districts — an experience that faded with the rise of suburban multiplexes and the decline of downtowns.
Michael Moore wants to bring those theaters back. The Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker has a plan to refurbish or prop up downtown movie houses in his home state of Michigan — and eventually nationwide.
The way to rescue downtown movie houses, Moore says, is to run them as nonprofit ventures staffed mostly with volunteers. That slashes costs and gives the community a stake in the theater’s survival, he says.
Moore plans to provide grants and training to theater operators who use those methods.
The best part is how Moore plans to pay for this:
The money would come from a fund he’s creating with his rebate from a state film tax credit earned by producing his documentary, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” in Michigan. He expects the refund to total about $1 million.
“One of our goals is to create an economic boost, particularly in struggling downtown areas,” he told The Associated Press this week during the annual Traverse City Film Festival, which he and others established six years ago. “Another is to save the art of cinema and encourage great films to be made.”
To be fair, I was a somewhat critical of Moore when I learned he qualified for the incentive, seeing as he was opposed to the incentive program initially. However, I think this plan is laudable and, perhaps, the best use of an incentive rebate to date (considering that it will directly benefit Michigan). Not everyone shares this view, however, and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy remains critical:
Michigan’s film industry tax credit is one of the nation’s most generous, refunding up to 42 percent of a company’s qualified expenditures. Moore said the $1 million he expects to receive will become seed money for his grant fund and he hopes other filmmakers who shoot in Michigan will contribute.
Michael Jahr, a commentator with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in Midland that opposes Michigan’s film tax incentive, said Moore should use his own money to revive downtown theaters.
“In effect, he’s taking a windfall he’s gotten from taxpayers in an economically depressed state and turning around and handing that out,” Jahr said.
Moore said Mackinac was conducting a smear campaign:
Moore said the Mackinac Center puts “out misleading and false statements to smear good people who do good things.”
While I am not going to accuse Mackinac of such, I do think they could at least recognize that what Moore is doing will directly benefit the state. It’s certainly good press if nothing else and might encourage other filmmakers to take similar actions with their share of a film rebate. As Moore said, Michigan is trying to save itself:
“One theater is not the be-all and end-all to create an economic recovery,” Moore said. “But our state is deep in the toilet and the rescue party is not coming and the only way we’re going to work our way out of this is to essentially save ourselves.”
