Posted on October 9, 2010 by Harold Phillips
It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for our weekly look at some of the news about film incentive programs around the country. Now, you know the focus of this site is Oregon’s film and TV industry, and its effect on the state’s economy. It’s important to keep an eye on trends nationwide, though. The film and TV industry is an interdependent organism; what happens around the country affects Oregon’s industry, and what happens in Oregon affects the rest of the country as well.
While each state’s incentive program is different, it’s important to see the “big picture” by keeping an eye on the choices other states have made – to learn from their successes and their mistakes.
So, with that…
As election day draws nearer, Michigan’s “best-in-the-nation” film incentive program is still the source of great controversy. On a newly launched monthly radio show devoted to that state’s industry supporters of the plan voiced their concern that Michigan’s new governor might eliminate the plan once he takes office, while current Governor Jennifer Granholm appeared on Friday to defend the incentives, saying that they’d always been focused on creating jobs and industry, not tax revenue.
A couple weeks ago, we mentioned a new partnership in Alaska between Evergreen Films and the Nana Development Corporation to expand Evergreen’s existing studio space in Anchorage and build a $1 billion production hub in that city. In a letter to corporation stake-holders, Nana’s board president explains the wisdom of this business partnership – worth reading for anyone seeking a development relationship of this sort!
Residents of Charleston, South Carolina are breathing a sigh of relief with news that Army Wives has confirmed it will return for its fifth season of production. The show had warned it would have to move production elsewhere if the state’s incentive program wasn’t renewed during the last legislative session.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, proponents of that state’s film incentive plan are seeing it begin to draw business to the Buckeye State – but central Ohio is being left out of the film boom. Backers are hoping to steer more productions to that area of the sate.
That’s not the case in Georgia, where that state has designated a series of counties as “Camera Ready” – a designation meant to draw filmmakers to rural areas of the Peach State. Coweta County is one such county, as is Hall County where the Dukes of Hazard shot over 20 years ago – which expects the designation to bring an increase in tourism dollars as well as production dollars.
Film Incentives are playing a major role in the Wisconsin governor’s race, as both major candidates for the governor’s mansion in Madison pledging to restore the state’s gutted incentive program if they’re elected. Meanwhile, Emmy award winning actor Tony Shaloub is stepping in and lobbying for an increase to the badger state’s incentive plan to allow him to make more films there, and new public service announcements featuring Shaloub and Susan Sarandon have begun running on local Wisconsin television channels.
Love your blog! will be coming back to read more, but how often do you update this blog?
As often as I can.