Comments for Runaway Production Research http://www.stop-runaway-production.com Runaway Production & State Film Incentives: News, Information and Research Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:50:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by Adrian http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3658 Adrian Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:50:40 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3658 Mark, I am so glad the people in the visual effects industry have taken to this article. I see your group laborers in Hollywood as one of the most affected by this issue, and that sucks. You have my sympathy. In my opinion, the work VFX does is the future of the industry. To have that work, or an evaluation of it, skewed by artificial film incentives that distort the playing field just plain sucks. I don't know what else to say other than I agree with everything that you said. Thank you very much for reading. Mark,

I am so glad the people in the visual effects industry have taken to this article. I see your group laborers in Hollywood as one of the most affected by this issue, and that sucks. You have my sympathy. In my opinion, the work VFX does is the future of the industry. To have that work, or an evaluation of it, skewed by artificial film incentives that distort the playing field just plain sucks. I don’t know what else to say other than I agree with everything that you said. Thank you very much for reading.

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by Damiel I. Radakovich http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3656 Damiel I. Radakovich Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:59:54 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3656 While it is true that many of the "new studios/soundstages" built in anticipation of massive influxes of Hollywood money are found to be futile/useless or of short duration at best, it is untrue that the presence of incentives at the state level do not have a beneficial effect on their scoieties and economies. The problem is that too manyof these initiatives/incentives concentrate solely onthe top of the pyramid, the blockbuster film/tentpole pic that will generate tesn of millions and the HUMAN infrastructure of film crew, actors, and production staff is not present or is forced to emigrate to the centers from lack of the bread-and-butter, or indy, production porjects that maintain a healthy film community. I reside in Pittsburgh, which was cruelly hurt by the initiatives of Canada for "runaway" production far more than Holywood or NYC. Our group, the PittsburghFilm workers' association, saw its membership plummet from over 180 to 60 often dubious emails on a closed Yahoo list wee could not access as the former president who had set it up had left and we thus could not access it for some years. But it remained in existence and the local infrastructure is such with many schools offering film studies/performance arts degrees inthe region, a healthy in zombie-centric tradition with legislation and procedures in place to facilitate filming not hamper it, and the advantages of a diverse terrain with some photogenic impact. Most films do eventually break even, except for shorts, due to a lack of venue for sale of them/marketing them profitably. But it takes time, and the best incentives are those which help the small filmmaker not just attempt to lure the big Hollywood shows. For example, PA gives 40 MM out for big movies where 60% of it is spent in PA-that makes about 10 Hollywood-style movies of 30 MM production costs partially funded/year-each getting about 4 MM in credits on that scale, where 16 MM is paid out instate. Of it about 3-3.5 MM will filtrate through the economy over the 3 year period of the credit's availability, with the funds from the credit remaining available to the state until paid out-with the interest and the liquidity that provides them. So it is essentially a 20 million subsidy...but the different aspects of employment of often unemployed otherwise, spurts to local economy, etc. results in a net gain of about 44 million when everything is lined out and calculated in.[i.e. a basic 10% ROI]. Before Ed Rendell came in with his sweetheart deal for Hollywood which began at 74MM PA had a similar 25% program but it was a rebate for state costs and taxes etc. This actually helped the smaller producer more since there was no potential top cap and they would always be guaranteed some benefit, whereas now when the limit is reached, if ever, that is it.[It usually is not, just from people being spooked away from applying for it :)]. But the larger productions did result in temporary boosts to the labor pools of qualified crew and staff and assisted the indys that way....talent still largely imported in a costly way through snobbery and sloth on the main producers' parts.[Amazing the number of Hollywood productions who think they can come here to get extras for free, yet will pay NYC and LA ones higher rates plus airfare to come when if they gave a fair wage here they'd be swamped. Or hired a local bit or extra wrangler rather than import them(sample mistake-wanting poorer city dwelling extras to register for non-union wage in a hotel deep in the suburbs with no easy bus, or car access, or "upscale suburbanites" in a downtown hotel with no available parking between 9-5)] [No, you will NOT get what you want. Do you fish for trout in salt water? Sea bass in the local pond?]. A better use of part of the money would be to allocate grants for no-interest loans for the smaller indy productions wholly filmed in the area, and renewal of the rebate process which even Hollywood could take advantage of once the cap was reached. that culd maintain a constant flow of work and provide the human infrastructure, which so much more than the physical plant, is needed for a healthy industry. A soundstage is a soundstage is a soundstage anywhere inthe world. The coastal centers have the vast advantage with those types of investments. For other locales, they should be shrewdly calculated from places that will not cost too much to renovate. And cities should be wary of the big talker types whosay this abandoned piece of dreck property is perfect for makingmillions. It will cost millions to renovate, usually into their pockets, and may not recover what is spent for decades. Not sayingit cannot or shouldn't be done, tried to convince our locale to do it myself for a perfect spot[ex-madhouse] but the realistic likely spots are few and far between. While it is true that many of the “new studios/soundstages” built in anticipation of massive influxes of Hollywood money are found to be futile/useless or of short duration at best, it is untrue that the presence of incentives at the state level do not have a beneficial effect on their scoieties and economies. The problem is that too manyof these initiatives/incentives concentrate solely onthe top of the pyramid, the blockbuster film/tentpole pic that will generate tesn of millions and the HUMAN infrastructure of film crew, actors, and production staff is not present or is forced to emigrate to the centers from lack of the bread-and-butter, or indy, production porjects that maintain a healthy film community. I reside in Pittsburgh, which was cruelly hurt by the initiatives of Canada for “runaway” production far more than Holywood or NYC. Our group, the PittsburghFilm workers’ association, saw its membership plummet from over 180 to 60 often dubious emails on a closed Yahoo list wee could not access as the former president who had set it up had left and we thus could not access it for some years. But it remained in existence and the local infrastructure is such with many schools offering film studies/performance arts degrees inthe region, a healthy in zombie-centric tradition with legislation and procedures in place to facilitate filming not hamper it, and the advantages of a diverse terrain with some photogenic impact. Most films do eventually break even, except for shorts, due to a lack of venue for sale of them/marketing them profitably. But it takes time, and the best incentives are those which help the small filmmaker not just attempt to lure the big Hollywood shows. For example, PA gives 40 MM out for big movies where 60% of it is spent in PA-that makes about 10 Hollywood-style movies of 30 MM production costs partially funded/year-each getting about 4 MM in credits on that scale, where 16 MM is paid out instate. Of it about 3-3.5 MM will filtrate through the economy over the 3 year period of the credit’s availability, with the funds from the credit remaining available to the state until paid out-with the interest and the liquidity that provides them. So it is essentially a 20 million subsidy…but the different aspects of employment of often unemployed otherwise, spurts to local economy, etc. results in a net gain of about 44 million when everything is lined out and calculated in.[i.e. a basic 10% ROI]. Before Ed Rendell came in with his sweetheart deal for Hollywood which began at 74MM PA had a similar 25% program but it was a rebate for state costs and taxes etc. This actually helped the smaller producer more since there was no potential top cap and they would always be guaranteed some benefit, whereas now when the limit is reached, if ever, that is it.[It usually is not, just from people being spooked away from applying for it :) ]. But the larger productions did result in temporary boosts to the labor pools of qualified crew and staff and assisted the indys that way….talent still largely imported in a costly way through snobbery and sloth on the main producers’ parts.[Amazing the number of Hollywood productions who think they can come here to get extras for free, yet will pay NYC and LA ones higher rates plus airfare to come when if they gave a fair wage here they'd be swamped. Or hired a local bit or extra wrangler rather than import them(sample mistake-wanting poorer city dwelling extras to register for non-union wage in a hotel deep in the suburbs with no easy bus, or car access, or "upscale suburbanites" in a downtown hotel with no available parking between 9-5)] [No, you will NOT get what you want. Do you fish for trout in salt water? Sea bass in the local pond?]. A better use of part of the money would be to allocate grants for no-interest loans for the smaller indy productions wholly filmed in the area, and renewal of the rebate process which even Hollywood could take advantage of once the cap was reached. that culd maintain a constant flow of work and provide the human infrastructure, which so much more than the physical plant, is needed for a healthy industry. A soundstage is a soundstage is a soundstage anywhere inthe world. The coastal centers have the vast advantage with those types of investments. For other locales, they should be shrewdly calculated from places that will not cost too much to renovate. And cities should be wary of the big talker types whosay this abandoned piece of dreck property is perfect for makingmillions. It will cost millions to renovate, usually into their pockets, and may not recover what is spent for decades. Not sayingit cannot or shouldn’t be done, tried to convince our locale to do it myself for a perfect spot[ex-madhouse] but the realistic likely spots are few and far between.

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by Mark Kolpack http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3646 Mark Kolpack Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:01:43 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3646 Adrian: I agree with your evaluation a 100%. The breakdown in your article spells out perfectly how the film and television industry is being undermined by tax credits / bribery. I remember when the Canadian government only allowed tax credits for Canadian content production. Meaning, the director, a lead actor, the writer and most of the below the line had to be Canadian and it had to be set in Canada. It was a way to build their film industry. Give it a boost. Well, that was all the way through the 1980's and somewhere in the early 1990's the Canadian Ministry of Cultural Affairs found a loophole that would allow them to apply tax credits to non-Canadian content production. Anything that was good for the Canadian culture could apply for tax credits. And Hollywood films were good for the Canadian culture. That opened the floodgates for Hollywood and the rest is history. I work in Visual Effects. What we see is that our jobs and projects are not only sent to Canada but to the UK, AUS, NZ and Asia in general. Our work exists now in binary code. It can be sent on a hard drive or over the internet to houses far and wide. Some for the tax credits and others for lower wages and tax credits. If the playing field were level, I'd gladly put our talent, infrastructure, management and pipelines up against any other anywhere in the world when it comes the quality of film making Hollywood expects and demands. So many US companies have opened facilities in these other countries as a means to stay in business. It's a band-aid fix to the greater problem at hand. All of this growth and expansion can't be supported on the Hollywood Film Industry alone. Something is going to break and that is Hollywood itself. Lower wages such as $1.95 to $2.50 an hour US in India is something we just can't compete with. Studios, will go where ever they can to save a buck. There is no loyalty to anyone in this industry. Those who think they will always have a solid business relationship with Hollywood are drinking their own Kool-Aid. If the tax credit bribery were to be outlawed, producers would return to making and posting their project in Hollywood. Going on location would be because the script called for it. Not to shoot in Nova Scotia and then make it look like LA or NY. I believe about 3 to 4 years ago the Canadian government was going to repeal their tax credit subsidy. They stated that the film industry up there was thriving after 20 years of support and should now be able to go it alone. Well, the entire film community stood up and cried allowed saying that if they did not have the tax credits Hollywood would no longer go up there and that they would lose their jobs and homes. Those people were right and Canada kept the tax credits. Americans lost their jobs and homes instead. Bribery, in the form of tax credits, should not be allowed. No matter where they are handed out, they are what they are, bribes to lure Hollywood production out of the country or state. While it may seem like good business by the studios, it will do what you have written about. Undermine the very existence of Hollywood. Adrian:

I agree with your evaluation a 100%. The breakdown in your article spells out perfectly how the film and television industry is being undermined by tax credits / bribery.

I remember when the Canadian government only allowed tax credits for Canadian content production. Meaning, the director, a lead actor, the writer and most of the below the line had to be Canadian and it had to be set in Canada. It was a way to build their film industry. Give it a boost. Well, that was all the way through the 1980′s and somewhere in the early 1990′s the Canadian Ministry of Cultural Affairs found a loophole that would allow them to apply tax credits to non-Canadian content production. Anything that was good for the Canadian culture could apply for tax credits. And Hollywood films were good for the Canadian culture. That opened the floodgates for Hollywood and the rest is history.

I work in Visual Effects. What we see is that our jobs and projects are not only sent to Canada but to the UK, AUS, NZ and Asia in general. Our work exists now in binary code. It can be sent on a hard drive or over the internet to houses far and wide. Some for the tax credits and others for lower wages and tax credits. If the playing field were level, I’d gladly put our talent, infrastructure, management and pipelines up against any other anywhere in the world when it comes the quality of film making Hollywood expects and demands.

So many US companies have opened facilities in these other countries as a means to stay in business. It’s a band-aid fix to the greater problem at hand. All of this growth and expansion can’t be supported on the Hollywood Film Industry alone. Something is going to break and that is Hollywood itself.

Lower wages such as $1.95 to $2.50 an hour US in India is something we just can’t compete with. Studios, will go where ever they can to save a buck. There is no loyalty to anyone in this industry. Those who think they will always have a solid business relationship with Hollywood are drinking their own Kool-Aid. If the tax credit bribery were to be outlawed, producers would return to making and posting their project in Hollywood. Going on location would be because the script called for it. Not to shoot in Nova Scotia and then make it look like LA or NY.

I believe about 3 to 4 years ago the Canadian government was going to repeal their tax credit subsidy. They stated that the film industry up there was thriving after 20 years of support and should now be able to go it alone. Well, the entire film community stood up and cried allowed saying that if they did not have the tax credits Hollywood would no longer go up there and that they would lose their jobs and homes. Those people were right and Canada kept the tax credits. Americans lost their jobs and homes instead.

Bribery, in the form of tax credits, should not be allowed. No matter where they are handed out, they are what they are, bribes to lure Hollywood production out of the country or state. While it may seem like good business by the studios, it will do what you have written about. Undermine the very existence of Hollywood.

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by SinCityFinancier http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3645 SinCityFinancier Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:01:05 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3645 Do film incentives ever pan out as profitable for the taxpayers that live in these state. It's time to quit giving away money to film producers and let them raise capital on their own. Film industry doesn't have a good record of providing any actual profit. I.E. Forbes 2010 "Top 200 film turkeys" report indicated only 4 film broke even. Broke even is not profitable. Do film incentives ever pan out as profitable for the taxpayers that live in these state. It’s time to quit giving away money to film producers and let them raise capital on their own. Film industry doesn’t have a good record of providing any actual profit. I.E. Forbes 2010 “Top 200 film turkeys” report indicated only 4 film broke even. Broke even is not profitable.

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by Chris M http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3627 Chris M Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:16:29 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3627 What you should really worry about (unless you are an actor), is that China has the technical pool and equipment and materials to beat the incentives of any country. There is no reason a producer would be prevented from taking all their actors to a studio shoot in China, and shoot all their interiors there more cheaply than in the USA. The could probably even find an English fluent crew. Then, they need only shoot exteriors in the USA. Just wait, someone will do this. What you should really worry about (unless you are an actor), is that China has the technical pool and equipment and materials to beat the incentives of any country. There is no reason a producer would be prevented from taking all their actors to a studio shoot in China, and shoot all their interiors there more cheaply than in the USA. The could probably even find an English fluent crew.
Then, they need only shoot exteriors in the USA. Just wait, someone will do this.

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by david burton http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3626 david burton Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:58:03 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3626 Please don't dump on Michigan because of one company's financial situation. With A Twist Studio has been successfully growing in Michigan with very limited help from incentives. http://www.imdb.com/company/co0308662/ Keep quality as your business model. -david burton Please don’t dump on Michigan because of one company’s financial situation. With A Twist Studio has been successfully growing in
Michigan with very limited help from incentives.

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0308662/

Keep quality as your business model.

-david burton

]]> Comment on Michigan Spending $40 Million to Subsidize “Oz: The Great & Powerful”!! Sets New Record for State Spend on Single Production! by Shoot Movies in California – A Great Blog Article By http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/ http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2011/03/04/michigan-spending-40-million-on-one-single-movie-sets-new-record-for-state-spend-on-single-production/comment-page-1/#comment-3621 Shoot Movies in California – A Great Blog Article By http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/ Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:41:17 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=889#comment-3621 [...] since Michigan subsidized “Oz” to the tune of $40 million, I doubt another major project will be booking Raleigh’s Pontiac Studios.  Raleigh is not the [...] [...] since Michigan subsidized “Oz” to the tune of $40 million, I doubt another major project will be booking Raleigh’s Pontiac Studios.  Raleigh is not the [...]

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by David Weinberg http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3617 David Weinberg Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:29:07 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3617 In Connecticut, the legislature budgets between $1 -$1.5 million for each job we can acquire from employers in other states. Globally we make too much crap to be consumed, and that includes movies and television. All states are hungry for jobs and they all realize there is a big cost involved with either creating or poaching them. Film is no different...as the Isle of Mann has demonstrated, creating film jobs are great. The workers pay taxes and spend money while on the island, yet they live far, far away...therefore, no families or children are added to the school system or drain infrastructure resources. If the goal of government was actually to create revenue from its investments...all tax credits would be insanity. They are money losers! Some tax credits are intended to build low income housing or fix infrastructure. Film tax credits are intended to create temporary jobs, and hopefully, add to tourism. It doesn't work in Connecticut because our legislature is dysfunctional and the program is poorly designed. However, now that Governor Malloy has made the precedent of luring NBC sports from New Jersey with a low interest, forgivable loan...I suspect it won't be long until Governor Brown waves goodbye to Universal. I believe we are already stockpiling mohair bikinis to keep the ticket buyers warm as they sush down the water slides in January In Connecticut, the legislature budgets between $1 -$1.5 million for each job we can acquire from employers in other states. Globally we make too much crap to be consumed, and that includes movies and television. All states are hungry for jobs and they all realize there is a big cost involved with either creating or poaching them.

Film is no different…as the Isle of Mann has demonstrated, creating film jobs are great. The workers pay taxes and spend money while on the island, yet they live far, far away…therefore, no families or children are added to the school system or drain infrastructure resources.

If the goal of government was actually to create revenue from its investments…all tax credits would be insanity. They are money losers! Some tax credits are intended to build low income housing or fix infrastructure. Film tax credits are intended to create temporary jobs, and hopefully, add to tourism.

It doesn’t work in Connecticut because our legislature is dysfunctional and the program is poorly designed. However, now that Governor Malloy has made the precedent of luring NBC sports from New Jersey with a low interest, forgivable loan…I suspect it won’t be long until Governor Brown waves goodbye to Universal. I believe we are already stockpiling mohair bikinis to keep the ticket buyers warm as they sush down the water slides in January

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by Steve http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3612 Steve Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:27:52 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3612 Mitch Albom's last film got the incentive in Michigan, at 42%. Sadly, that was the last anyone has heard from him with regards to speaking out for the incentives. However, Michiigan's incentives are back at a lower rate and will be phased out in five years. They are designed, ironically, to help Raleigh Studios. Too little, too late, it seems. Mitch Albom’s last film got the incentive in Michigan, at 42%. Sadly, that was the last anyone has heard from him with regards to speaking out for the incentives. However, Michiigan’s incentives are back at a lower rate and will be phased out in five years. They are designed, ironically, to help Raleigh Studios. Too little, too late, it seems.

]]> Comment on If You Build it (film infrastructure), Hollywood Will NOT Come (unless bribed) by Adrian http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/2012/01/20/if-you-build-it-film-infrastructure-hollywood-will-not-come-unless-bribed/comment-page-1/#comment-3610 Adrian Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:49:51 +0000 http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/?p=1244#comment-3610 Great, thoughtful, comment Mark. Thank you for reading and sharing your experience. Great, thoughtful, comment Mark. Thank you for reading and sharing your experience.

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