May 11, 2021

Senate unveils a $48b budget plan, one that would tighten state’s film tax credit, increase aid to schools

(bostonglobe.com)

Massachusetts Senate leaders on Tuesday unveiled the contours of a $47.6 billion budget proposal that would boostspending by $1.2 billion over the current year and funnel hundreds of millions of more dollars to local schools, without any broad-based tax increases.

The chamber will debate changes to the bill on May 25, after which Senate and House leaders will have to reconcile differences between their proposals before sending a final product to Governor Charlie Baker for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Here are some notable details in the Senate’s package:

Film credit targeted

The proposal avoids any hikes to the broad-based taxes the state’s budget is built upon — including the income tax and salestax. But it would tweak the edges of the state’s tax code, most notably with a series of proposed changes meant to tighten the controversial film tax credit program, putting the chamber at odds with the House, which voted last month to permanently extend the credit during its own budget debate.

By contrast, the Senate plan would extend the credit only to 2027, four years after it’s slated to expire. It also would cap those salaries eligible to be covered by the credit at $1 million, and, in a major change, end the ability of production companies to transfer the credit — in other words, sell it to other entities, including insurance companies, corporations, or even individuals, said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues, the chamber’s budget chairman.

By: Matt Stout

Continue Reading at bostonglobe.com

EUE/Screen Gems Studios jumpstarted Georgia’s TV and film revolution

(ajc.com)

The Lakewood Fairgrounds in South Atlanta has a storied past going back more than a century. Over the years, it has hosted countless farmers showing off their prize pigs, hordes of teenagers screaming down a 66-foot roller coaster drop and crowds of antique shoppers angling for bargains.

And over the past decade, on the same property, Denzel Washington’s Whip crash-landed an airplane, Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen fended off foes with her signature bow and arrow and Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven took down a scary demogorgon. None of this would have happened in Georgia without the risk-takers at EUE Screen Gems, which also owns sound stages in New York, Miami and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Two years after the state passed generous tax credits to entice the likes of Disney and Sony to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the state of Georgia, EUE/Screen Gems gambled its own millions of dollars to renovate and open its own studio on 30 acres of Lakewood land in 2010. Kris Bagwell, the studio’s first executive director who is departing later this month, promised hundreds of jobs with a goal to establish Georgia as a truly hospitable home for TV series and big-budget films.

By: Rodney Ho

Continue Reading at ajc.com

Terra Virtua’s CEO Gary Bracey Believes the Future of Hollywood Film Lies With NFTs and Digital Collectibles

(finance.yahoo.com)

Whether we are talking about film financing to limited-release collectibles, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are certainly the future of Hollywood collectibles, even if many people still don’t understand them. If one thing is for certain, Hollywood is already investing millions of real-world dollars into NFTs, and independent filmmaking may be one of the earliest applications.

Last month, Saturday Night Live (SNL) did a short called “What the Hell’s an NFT?”, which also served beyond that of a traditional SNL parody. Public interest in NFTs has grown immensely in recent months, following what public figures like Justin Blau (3LAU), Lindsay Lohan, and recently, Ellen DeGeneres’ dive into the digital collectibles space.

Like any new technology, it takes the public some time to really grasp the concept, and then actually understanding how to invest in such new innovations.

By: Cagla Ertugrul

Continue Reading at finance.yahoo.com