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As Hollywood productions pick up again, film tax credit bills could bring filmmakers to MN

(wdio.com)

Hollywood pulled through a year unlike any other as the pandemic closed theaters, delayed major releases and shut down productions all together.

Now that Hollywood productions are picking up again, two bills before the House and Senate could bring filmmakers to Minnesota.

The bills are called HF-1975 and SF-1986. They encourage film makers to come to Minnesota by offering them a transferable tax credit of up to 25% on in-state purchases for production.

Riki McManus, Chief Production Officer for the Upper Midwest Film Office, believes a production incentive program like this is priceless for an economy recovering from the pandemic.

“It is creating jobs and it is leaving money behind,” McManus said.

McManus pointed to places it has worked—including St. Louis County, where a similar incentive program was passed earlier this year and is already yielding results.

By: Emily Ness

Continue Reading at wdi.com

LA Film Production Surges 45% in March, Nearing Pre-COVID Levels

(thewrap.com)

Film production in Los Angeles is coming back strong. FilmLA reported a surge of 43% in applications in March, a huge jump after LA County saw a similarly large jump of 43% between January to February.

FilmLA in its latest report Friday says that it received 1,125 applications in March for film and TV shoots on location. That’s 6,585 film permit applications, spanning 4,421 unique projects, since production resumed during the coronavirus pandemic last June, and another huge jump following the industry pause over the holiday in which Los Angeles saw another spike in COVID-19 cases.

The total number of productions is on pace with what the industry saw before the pandemic. FilmLA says that in terms of total shoot days during the last quarter, film and TV shoots were down only 3.3% compared to the same period in 2020. That’s 7,011 shoot days between January and March in 2021, though TV production specifically has grown just over 50% year-over-year, accounting for 3,766 total shoot days.

By: Brian Welk

Continue Reading at thewrap.com

LendingFront Partners with FilmHedge to Facilitate Lending for Independent Film and TV Production

(salamancapress.com)

NEW YORK, April 19, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — LendingFront, a leading fintech operating system that powers business lending for community banks, credit unions, CDFIs, payment processors and alternative lenders, today announced it has partnered with FilmHedge, an alternative lender that provides short term financing to borrowers working in film, TV and media. LendingFront’s platform will be integrated into FilmHedge’s technology stack to bring efficiency, ease and access to their lending process.

“There’s been a huge demand for content this past year, as more people are streaming movies, media, and original programming from home. FilmHedge is making it easier for independent producers to borrow capital for such creative projects, and LendingFront was the only company willing to meet our highly unique needs,” said Jon Gosier, founder and CEO, FilmHedge. “Off-the-shelf software wouldn’t work with the non-standard customer data points and unique collateralization that FilmHedge uses to make loan decisions. LendingFront tailored exactly the right process for us to assess and deliver loans more efficiently and easily within these creative industries.”

“LendingFront is proud to work with a forward-thinking lender like FilmHedge. Jon and his team are making capital easier to access in an industry historically ignored by traditional lenders simply because its borrowers did not fit typical customer profiles. If media producers could even secure capital previously, the process was paper-based, people-dependent, and time consuming. FilmHedge is bringing both innovation and efficiency to its industry, and we’re delighted to be their chosen platform partner,” said Jorge Sun, co-founder and CEO of LendingFront.

FilmHedge determines the terms for its loan offers based on how a media project is collateralized. Forms of collateral include media agreements, tax credits, hard assets, and more. There are no restrictions on how FilmHedge’s capital is used in the production process.

By: LendingFront

Continue Reading at salamancapress.com

Providence Film Group, a Valiant Eagle Inc. (PSRU) Subsidiary, Momentously Signs EB-5 Agreement for Its Film Production Slate and Regional Center

(newsfilecorp.com)

EB5AN will act as the regional center. They will provide consulting services and document preparation services in connection with the I-526 Application process for investors and, in particular, will review, revise, and prepare the relevant business plans and economic reports required in connection with the official EB-5 application. The complete Project Documentation I-526 Application package will be completed within eight weeks of signing, and also after receipt of the required Project information from PFG.

The EB-5 program is regional in its nature, requiring its funding be invested into specific areas within the USA. The two prominent studio facilities chosen by PFG, the L.A. Center Studios in downtown Los Angeles (“The X Files”, “Mad Men”, “American Crime Story”, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”,”T3″, “MI-2”), and the L.A. Castle Studios in Burbank, California (“The Mummy”, “Greenland”, “Bosch”, “Deadliest Catch”), fulfill this area requirement. It is foreseen that the PFG slate will be based around one or both of these studio facilities.

The EB-5 program is a U.S. Visa program designed to allow foreign investors to gain permanent residence into the United States. It requires a minimum investment of $900,000 (if investing in a targeted employment area, or TEA) or $1,800,000 (if investing in a non-TEA) to finance a business in the United States which will employ at least ten American workers. The EB-5 program is intended to encourage both “foreign investment and economic growth.”

Providence Film Group’s parent company, Valiant Eagle Inc., is utilizing the consultancy services of the EB5AN to ensure all appropriate EB-5 information, resources and documentation is adequately tailored to the EB-5 program’s specific needs. With EB-5 investments in place, Providence Film Group will have funding for the many different projects within the company.

Providence will fund and produce productions in targeted employment areas located in Los Angeles County. In the past decade, a significant amount of California-based productions have “run away” to other states, or to Canada, where there are greater finance incentives, including film tax credits, that California historically has not offered. Operating as a financing incentive to keep these “runaway productions” in Los Angeles and to help create jobs in the United States, the EB-5 loan will create and preserve important film production jobs in the region.

Xavier Mitchell, the CEO of Providence Film Group, says, “Our company is very excited to receive the EB-5 investment. We’ve worked for years to secure this deal. Providence Film Group has some great projects underway, and this investment will help bring our projects to life. We easily anticipate our project slate will generate in excess of $200M in revenue. The number of jobs we will create cannot be understated. With COVID-19 having such a disastrous impact on employment in Hollywood, we are confident the production climate will greatly benefit from our efforts.”

Providence Film Group is not the first film production company to use EB-5 investments for its projects. In the past, and among other companies, Time Warner borrowed $47.5 million, $100 million, and $125 million in EB-5 funds in three separate offerings. Lions Gate Studios borrowed $66 million and $50 million in two different offerings, and Sony was provided $125 million to underwrite its movie and TV productions (https://dlgimmigration.com/eb-5-film-fund/).

Continue Reading at newsfilecorp.com

Senate committee OKs film incentive extension

(neworleanscitybusiness.com)

A Louisiana Senate committee advanced without objection Thursday a proposal to extend the life of the state’s film subsidy program, which may be a tough sell for lawmakers looking to trim or eliminate tax incentives.

The motion picture program provides state-certified film and TV productions with up to a 40% tax credit on eligible in-state expenditures. The program can issue up to $150 million in credits per fiscal year, and recipients can claim up to $180 million per fiscal year.

Senate Bill 173 by Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, calls for extending the program’s scheduled sunset from 2025 to 2031. The longer runway would make the state more attractive to film and TV producers, who often plan projects several years in advance, and to potential investors in the state’s film industry infrastructure, supporters said.

Hewitt is not asking lawmakers to change the credit caps.

“The net impact on the state [budget] is going to be exactly the same,” she said.

By: David Jacobs

Continue Reading at neworleanscitybusiness.com