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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

The Paterson Film & Entertainment Commission Announces Tax Incentive Programs for Women & Minority-Led Productions

(prnewswire.com)

PATERSON, N.J., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Paterson Film & Entertainment Commission, an organization dedicated to facilitating the needs of the film & entertainment industries while stimulating the economic growth of New Jersey, has announced a unique tax incentive program for women & minority-led productions as part of a bipartisan effort by the state of New Jersey to incentivize filmmakers and entertainment industry professionals.

Women and minority-led productions are encouraged to apply for the additional 2% Diversity Tax Credit. The primary objective of the 2% Diversity Tax Credit is to stimulate job growth by encouraging film productions to employ the services of women and minority persons. The structure of this program seeks to further ensure that equal employment opportunities are offered to both key creative positions & all other production crew.

Full criteria and an application can be found here.

“We couldn’t be happier that New Jersey is offering these credits to these amazing productions,” said Jerry Nardella, Esq., the Paterson Film & Entertainment Commission’s steering committee chair who has participated in some of the Commission’s most ambitious plans — including, most recently, helping to provide location services to Steven Spielberg‘s upcoming production of West Side Story.

Continue Reading at prnewswire.com

EDITORIAL: ‘Lights!’ ‘Camera!’ Minnesota? Lawmakers can work together to bring home more ‘Action!

(news.yahoo.com)

May 5—Making movies and TV shows is a $70 billion industry in the U.S. — and an untapped opportunity for Duluth, the Northland, and Minnesota.

In December, St. Louis County took a serious step toward grabbing a game-changing chunk of the economy-boosting, area-promoting glitz and glamour when the County Board voted to create an incentive to woo free-spending Hollywood types and anyone else shooting and creating. The incentive is a rebate on their expenditures of up to 25% in the county and 20% on the Iron Range. That’s sizable savings, the likes of which are already bolstering TV and film endeavors elsewhere and the nudge needed when shooting locations are being chosen.

In addition, this session at the Legislature, lawmakers have a chance to add to the enticement with a transferable film tax credit from the state of up to 25% on in-Minnesota spending on movie and TV making.

But the legislation to create the film-production tax credit has reached a critical, will-it-or-won’t-it-pass juncture in St. Paul, Riki McManus, chief production officer for the Upper Midwest Film Office in Duluth, told the News Tribune Opinion page this week.

With Northland lawmakers and bipartisan support firmly behind them, House and Senate bills have received hearings. But only the House version was included in its chamber’s omnibus tax bill, according to Minnesota Film and TV. A conference committee is working right now to reconcile differences between the different versions of the legislation to produce a final bill for a full vote by all legislators.

A practically entire new industry that easily could mean hundreds of millions of dollars for Minnesota’s economy hinges on that conference committee’s ability to find agreement.

“The production industry brings in new money to our region and gives locals a new career pathway that allows them to live and be creative right here in Minnesota,” McManus said in a written statement this week. “That is happening right now in Northern Minnesota because of the St. Louis County Film Incentive. We have four episodic series that would like to shoot here, but they are just waiting to see if the (state) tax credit passes. They need it in order to bring these large projects that can potentially last years and employ … hundreds and sometimes thousands of people over the span of shooting. What a boost to the economy that would be!”

Minnesota is largely being left behind by an industry roaring back to life post-pandemic. Sure, there’ve been some big Hollywood productions shot here, including “Iron Will” in and around Duluth; “North Country” and “I Am Not a Serial Killer” on the Iron Range; “Fargo” in and around the Twin Cities; and “Grumpy Old Men” in Minneapolis, Chanhassen, and Lake City.

Also, between 2014 and 2018, at least 11 small feature films and two TV series filmed in the Duluth and North Shore areas, representing more than $4 million in spending on local wages and at local businesses, according to Minnesota Film and TV.

Continue Reading at news.yahoo.com

Sen. Carla Nelson could have big impact on filmmaking in Minnesota

(kimt.com)

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A legislative measure under consideration in St. Paul would create a tax credit of up to 25 percent for television and film productions in the North Star state similar to programs in other states. The bi-partisan measure is co-authored by Rochester senator Carla Nelson.

Rochester resident and independent filmmaker Sara Hamilton said there is a backlog of productions waiting to happen that is on hold due to COVID-19. She says the industry is ready to start things back up.

“But the only cities and states that are going to get the big series, movies, and larger productions are the ones that offer a tax credit,” she explains.

She worked on several independent features in Rochester pre-pandemic.

As the TV and film industry begins to ramp up post-pandemic production, a tax credit incentive would encourage production companies to bring bigger productions, jobs, and money to Minnesota.

Such productions could be a shot in the arm for small businesses and grow middle-class jobs across the state.

If the legislative measure passes, it will create a transferable tax credit of up to 25 percent on qualified in-state expenditures for TV and film production.

Hamilton says Minnesota Film and TV is actively involved with major studios and big productions. But many are not coming here because there is no financial incentive to cover production costs.

“Minnesota has the hardest working, experienced people, cast-crew who know what they’re doing and are passionate about the industry,” Hamilton says.

She says the tax credit incentive is the key to bringing more film and TV projects to Minnesota.

Hamilton says, “We’re ready to shoot and we want to shoot here, but we need an incentive in order to attract the larger productions.”

There are two versions of this bill. One in the house and one in the senate. A conference committee is working to reconcile differences between the two.

By: Samantha Soto

Continue Reading at kimt.com