Cali Budget: Hasta la vista, baby

[don]

Films and TV Series to Get Tax Credits

Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF

The latest entries in franchises about clumsy cops and talking dogs are among the first 25 films and television series that have qualified for production tax credits offered by the State of California, Variety reported. The list includes “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2,” a sequel to the 2008 Disney movie; the Comedy Central series “Important Things With Demetri Martin”; and “Naked Gun 4,” the latest chapter in the long-running police procedural satire. The $500 million tax-credit program will cover 20 percent of expenses for productions of up to $75 million, and 25 percent of expenses for independent features of up to $10 million, as well as existing television shows that relocate to California. Citing statistics provided by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Variety said that the number of studio feature film projects in California had declined 50 percent since 2003.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/ar...gewanted=print

[goadam1]

Re: Cali Budget: Hasta la vista, baby

Films and TV Series to Get Tax Credits

Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF

The latest entries in franchises about clumsy cops and talking dogs are among the first 25 films and television series that have qualified for production tax credits offered by the State of California, Variety reported. The list includes “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2,” a sequel to the 2008 Disney movie; the Comedy Central series “Important Things With Demetri Martin”; and “Naked Gun 4,” the latest chapter in the long-running police procedural satire. The $500 million tax-credit program will cover 20 percent of expenses for productions of up to $75 million, and 25 percent of expenses for independent features of up to $10 million, as well as existing television shows that relocate to California. Citing statistics provided by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Variety said that the number of studio feature film projects in California had declined 50 percent since 2003.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/ar...gewanted=print

It sure beats having your industry move to New Mexico or Vancouver.

http://www.nmfilm.com/filming/incentives/tax-rebate.php

[Ghent12]

Re: Cali Budget: Hasta la vista, baby

Tax cuts to stimulate their most culturally significant export? Interesting...

[cjppjc]

Re: Cali Budget: Hasta la vista, baby

It sure beats having your industry move to New Mexico or Vancouver.

http://www.nmfilm.com/filming/incentives/tax-rebate.php

NY State has lots of tax breaks for films also.

[GRG55]

Re: Cali Budget: Hasta la vista, baby

It sure beats having your industry move to New Mexico or Vancouver.

http://www.nmfilm.com/filming/incentives/tax-rebate.php

Tax cuts to stimulate their most culturally significant export? Interesting...

NY State has lots of tax breaks for films also.

It just shows that like global auto manufacturing and a host of other industries, there's just "too much capacity" in film making. The only way to support all the artists, directors, etc in the industry is to keep subsidizing that industry at the expense of other economic sectors which are apparently "less sexy" in the eyes of the politicians.

I don't see this as any different from tax breaks to build auto plants [which resulted in too much capacity which the market is finally forcing out of existence], agricultural subsidies [which led to "mountains of butter and lakes of milk" for a time in the EU], or taxpayer funded sports stadiums which just allows oversized player salary budgets and subsidizes the rich and vain team owners [take away tax funded stadiums and the marginal players/teams disappear and the quality of the sport goes back towards what it used to be].

At some point the cost of continuing to support a film industry that is too big to support itself may become excessive, at which point sanity will prevail and the industry will be forced to shrink to the size a non-distorted [by government] economy will actually support.

[and the deflationistas will leap on that as another example to support their sky-is-falling thesis... ]

[Ghent12]

Re: Cali Budget: Hasta la vista, baby

It just shows that like global auto manufacturing and a host of other industries, there's just "too much capacity" in film making. The only way to support all the artists, directors, etc in the industry is to keep subsidizing that industry at the expense of other economic sectors which are apparently "less sexy" in the eyes of the politicians.

I don't see this as any different from tax breaks to build auto plants [which resulted in too much capacity which the market is finally forcing out of existence], agricultural subsidies [which led to "mountains of butter and lakes of milk" for a time in the EU], or taxpayer funded sports stadiums which just allows oversized player salary budgets and subsidizes the rich and vain team owners [take away tax funded stadiums and the marginal players/teams disappear and the quality of the sport goes back towards what it used to be].

At some point the cost of continuing to support a film industry that is too big to support itself may become excessive, at which point sanity will prevail and the industry will be forced to shrink to the size a non-distorted [by government] economy will actually support.

[and the deflationistas will leap on that as another example to support their sky-is-falling thesis... ]

Hollywood is a truly interesting industry. It's marketed art, and has unique properties as such. Further, it is the mecca of culture on Earth. Hollywood films, at least in my globe-trotting experience (well, just Asia and the Middle East), are ubiquitous.

I think that if (and it's a big if) the balance of trade never comes to a complete crisis, it'll be because of relatively intangible American exports such as culture (Hollywood) and defense. What's the going rate for having a Carrier Strike Group have their port call in your country's cities, anyways?