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BondIt Media Capital Increases Credit Facility Up to $70 Million (EXCLUSIVE)

(variety.com)

BondIt Media Capital has increased its credit facility with Revere Capital by up to $70 million.

Founded in 2013, BondIt has posited over $150 million of capital into over 325 film, TV and other media projects. These include “Honest Thief” (starring Liam Neeson), “Midway” (a Roland Emmerich-directed WW2 film), “Loving Vincent” (the 2018 Oscar-nominated animated film) and “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street” (an upcoming documentary on HBO Max).

“Over the past three years we’ve formed a deep partnership with the team at Revere, leading to a meaningful expansion of BondIt’s financing capacity and executive production pipeline,” BondIt CEO and co-founder Matthew Helderman said in a statement.

BondIt works closely with sister companies Buffalo 8, which handles production, post-production and distribution, and ABS Payroll, which offers accounting and other financial services in the entertainment industry.

Unlike other media industry financiers, BondIt offers in-house production and post-production infrastructure, designed to serve the unique needs of producers and their various projects, regardless of budget or profile.

“BondIt has nearly doubled in size since June 2020 when film and TV production activities began to ramp up following a pandemic-related slowdown,” Helderman said. “We’re excited to extend our partnership with Revere to build off of that momentum together.”

By: Ethan Shanfeld

Continue Reading at variety.com

No Mandatory Vaccines In Film & TV Industry’s Updated Return-To-Work Protocols

(deadline.com)

EXCLUSIVE: Covid-19 vaccinations of casts and crews will not be mandatory on film and TV productions under the industry’s newly renegotiated return-to-work protocols, which now extend to June 30. “To mandate at this point may be premature,” a source told Deadline. “That subject has been skirted.”

The source noted, however, that cast and crew members still should get vaccinated, “but nothing is mandatory.” The new agreement, is a “pretty much a straightforward extension” of those that were set to expire on Friday, the source said.

The original return-to-work agreement was reached between management’s Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and Hollywood’s unions agreement with Hollywood’s unions – SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, IATSE, the Teamsters and the Basic Crafts – on September 21, nearly three months before the first Covid-19 vaccine was administered in the U.S. Even though vaccines now are widely available, they won’t be mandatory on film and TV sets until at least June 30, when the current extension expires.

By: David Robb

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Worcester Chamber: State film tax credit is integral to Commonwealth’s economy

(spectrumnews1.com)

WORCESTER, Mass. – The state tax credit which has caused many television and movies to be produced in Massachusetts is one step closer to becoming permanent.

Earlier this week, the state’s House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass a budget amendment to make the Massachusetts Film Tax Credit permanent. The program gives production companies the ability to get a tax credit for a percentage of what they spend in the Commonwealth. 

Alex Guardiola, Vice President of Government and Public Policy of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, says the economic benefit of this program has been a key keeping such industries such as hotels, restaurants and catering afloat during the pandemic. And by having many movies and television programs filmed in the state,  adds to the vibrancy and tourism industry of Massachusetts.

Guardiola said, ​”The tax credit for these films and movies is an integral part of our economic development. So the money that is made from these tax credits is astronomical compared to what we’re spending on the tax credit. These films that are being filmed in different parts of the state, specifically in cities like Worcester, where you have a big robust hospitality industry, it helps them completely get to the other side​.”

Earlier this month, George Clooney filmed scenes from the upcoming movie “The Tender Bar” on Walnut Street in Worcester. The current Tax Credit Program was set to expire in 2022. It now moves to the state senate for debate.

By: Spectrum News Staff

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Liverpool-based film studio American High receives grant to shoot more movies in Central New York

(eaglenewsonline.com)

LIVERPOOL — Last August, director Jeremy Garelick announced that he would move his American High film studio and trade school out of Liverpool’s historic Zogg building, but now — after recently receiving a county grant for $250,000 — the cameras continue to roll locally.
American High, has produced 10 feature films locally since he bought the 91-year-old high-school building for an estimated $1 million in 2017 and dubbed it the Academy at Syracuse Studios.

While several of American High’s teen-oriented comedies such as “Big Time Adolescence” and “The Binge” have screened at prestigious festivals and found receptive audiences on video-on-demand services, Garelick said that the high cost of complying with village and state codes prompted last year’s decision to sell the building and its 6.9-acre lot.

Last week Garelick confirmed via email that he has received the grant which was administered by the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency and the county’s office of Economic Development.

By: Russ Tarby

Continue Reading at eaglenewsonline.com

House votes to lift film tax credit sunset

(wwlp.com)

BOSTON (SHNS) – State representatives on Monday gave a boost to tax credits for film production, land conservation, and the rehabilitation of historic buildings as they dove into the likely days-long process of crafting their fiscal 2022 budget.

House lawmakers signed off on the three tax credit amendments before giving initial approval to the $47.65 billion spending plan for next year, and all other amendments involving revenue and taxes were quietly withdrawn with no vote or debate over possible tax increases or reductions.

Introducing the bill, House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said his committee’s budget proposal aims to rebuild a stronger version of the state’s economy as it begins to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, with investments like $50 million for adult education, $5 million for tourism marketing, and a $10 million offshore wind career training program.

Rep. Tackey Chan pitched his amendment to remove the sunset from the film tax credit — which is set to expire at the end of 2022 — as a path to economic recovery, saying that movies and TV series made in Massachusetts bolster the hospitality sector that has been hard hit by the pandemic and government restrictions.

The House voted unanimously in support of that amendment. Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, the vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, described it as “a true stimulus package.”

House Speaker Ronald Mariano, who is overseeing the budget process for the first time since his colleagues elected him to the role last December, said the vote sends “a clear message to the film industry that we are open for long-term commitments and the economic benefits they bring to Massachusetts.”

By: Katie Lannan

Continue Reading at wwlp.com