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Netflix’s California Tax Credits Outpace Other Studios

(labusinessjournal.com)

Netflix Inc. has won more tax credits from the California Film Commission than any other company by a margin of more than two to one.

The Los Gatos-based streaming company received $60.3 million from the state’s production development organization, according to a CFC press release issued Feb. 28. Its next closest competitor for credits was The Walt Disney Co., which was awarded $27.2 million, followed by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. with $16.2 million.

Netflix’s credits will be applied toward the production of the projects such as “Atlas,” “Beverly Hills Cop 4,” “Family Leave” and “Unfrosted,” which is an origin story about the Pop Tart to be written, directed and produced by Jerry Seinfeld. Five other Netflix projects — “Anemone,” “Scandalous,” “The Long Walk,” “Thirsty” and “Verona Spies” — received tax credits for a second time after pandemic-related delays prevented their productions from using them the first time.

The total for all credits issued was$149.2 million spread across 30 films, a new record for the CFC. Based on the data provided with each tax credit application, those projects will bring an estimated $1.17 billion to California, including $774 million in “qualified” spending, which includes wages to below-the-line workers and in-state vendors. Only that qualified portion of a project’s budget is eligible for credits under the state’s incentive program.

Measured in “man-days,” the projects in total will additionally employ an estimated 4,564 crew, 1,212 cast members and 48,646 background actors or stand-ins. They will account for a combined 1,095 filming days, almost 30% of which will occur outside of Los Angeles’ 30-mile “Studio Zone.”

With filming planned to get underway in 16 counties across the state, that figure marks the most out-of-zone filming days for any round of projects in the history of the tax credit program.“Our tax credit program continues to bring jobs and opportunity statewide,” CFC Executive Director Colleen Bell said in a statement. “The current round of projects will directly impact more regions of the state than any round in the program’s history, and that’s a terrific milestone.”

For each fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) of California’s current tax credit program (Program 3.0), the state intends to hand out $330 million spread across feature films, TV projects, independent films and relocating TV series. Typically, just 40% of that total —
$132 million — goes to features and independent films, but thus far, California has given $288 million to films in the current fiscal year, largely due to credits left over from productions from recent years that were either delayed or canceled.

The CFC received 76 applications during the latest feature film tax credit application period, which runs from Jan. 24-31. The next application period for feature film tax credits will be held July 18-25, after the period for recurring and relocating TV series March 7-14.

By: Todd Gilchrist

Continue Reading at labusinessjournal.com

Utah’s Rural Economy Gets Boost With Film Incentives Bill Passage

(stgeorgeutah.com)

 ST. GEORGE — Boosting rural Utah’s economy and preventing the loss of film revenue to neighboring states was approved when the legislature recently passed the Utah Film Production Incentives Amendments bill. 

The new legislation doubled the current tax breaks and incentives for film and television production companies.

S. B. 49 exempts rural film productions from limits on tax credit incentives available up to the $12,000 cap. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Ronald M. Winterton of Roosevelt and co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Handy of Layton.

Production crews must hire locally and within Utah to get the incentives. According to Jeff Johnson, president of the Motion Picture Association of Utah, when large companies come in, they only get tax incentives based on local hires.

Passage of the bill allows more long-term network television series and movies to stay in Utah. The increased cap increases Utah’s ability to attract and keep productions of television and film projects. He said that Utah recently lost shows such as Yellowstone and High School Musical.

According to Winterton, there were some compromises to reach the passage of the bill finally. After two years, the legislature will review the bill again. Also, the amount of production in a rural county was increased to 75%. 

“We had it financed at $12 million, and that wasn’t good enough. Some members of the House wanted to make sure that we kept it at that. Then the last thing that they did was put in the two years‘ sunset revision on it, to revisit it,” Winterton said. “I think that they’re comfortable with it, and I’m comfortable with it and I hate to see it circled again.” 

Passage of the bill means more long-term employment, and Johnson said that’s great for the economy. It also helps prevent the incentives from running out too early in the year. According to Johnson, tax incentives to produce films were at 25%, but the program would run out of money within a few months each year. 

Kane County Film Commissioner Kelly Stowell agrees the bill will considerably impact the state.

“Utah has all the elements to become a premier film destination. The only question is whether or not the state will adopt policies that make Utah competitive or will we continue to send jobs and investments to other states.” Stowell said. “Production companies want to spend their money in Utah, and we should make it easy for them to do so. Utah has turned away hundreds of millions of dollars of film and television projects. Other states continue to utilize film incentives that lure content producers away from Utah. Utah must offer a competitive film incentive.” 

This film incentive bill will cause producers to consider rural counties first before looking elsewhere. Cash will get infused quickly, and suppliers, hotels, and restaurants will see immediate benefits. Rural Utah can become a major player in film again, Stowell said.

Historically, in the 1950s and 1960s, Kanab was a mecca for Western moviemaking, including hits “Buffalo Bill” starring Joel McCrea; “Pony Express” starring Charlton Heston; and “Sergeants 3” starring “Rat Pack” members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Television also favored the area during those decades, including “Death Valley Days,” “Have Gun-Will Travel,” “Daniel Boone,” “How the West Was Won” and, most notably, “Gunsmoke,” whose home base was the Johnson Canyon set.

The last well known Western movies shot in the area were “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” which starred Clint Eastwood, in 1976, and Walt Disney’s Western spoof, “The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again,” in 1978, starring comedians Don Knotts and Tim Conway.

By: Stephanie DeGraw

Continue Reading at stgeorgeutah.com

Could NFTs Finance Your Next Project?

(nofilmschool.com)

 

The future is encoded with crypto, so what does that mean for filmmakers and Hollywood? 

The spectacle of NFTs is slowly revolutionizing how feature films will find funding and distribution. Everyday consumers can become film financiers by simply purchasing a profit share in a film through “pre-sale NFTs.” 

Moviecoin.com, a crypto start-up, is leading the pack by partially financing the boxing biopic, Prizefighter, starring Russell Crowe and Ray Winstone. The lead developer of Moviecoin, James Hickey, told Express.co.uk that the groundbreaking inclusion of NFTs in the filmmaker process is “really to show that power can be returned to the artists and subsequently moved away from multiple intermediaries in a supply chain.” 

Hickey continues promoting the inclusion of NFTs in Hollywood by saying, “By tokenizing movie pre-production and selling NFTs representative of future rights we truly believe the whole industry will be turned on its head or at the least forced to give people a better deal.”

By: Alyssa Miller

Continue Reading at nofilmschool.com

Alberta’s $70-Million Boost In Film And Television Tax Credits Welcomed By Industry

(edmontonjournal.com)

Local industry groups are welcoming Alberta’s expanded film and television tax credit program, saying the $70 million allotted in this year’s budget will help support the growing sector and attract big productions.

Investment now and into the next few years is part of Alberta’s plans to diversify the economy and help it recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Productions already approved for this year are expected to create up to 12,500 jobs, according to the government.

Tom Viinikka, CEO of Edmonton Screen Industries Office, said it’s an exciting time for the local television and film industries and this credit will provide the room it needs to grow.

“This tax credit makes us competitive with other regions and makes it possible for these productions, especially these really big productions, to come to Alberta,” he said.

“(These) come with potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for a single production, and it provides a ton of jobs and opportunities for people to develop their craft and their talent.”

With big productions like The Last of Us, Viinikka said 2021 was Alberta’s best year, bringing in more money than ever before. He hopes more productions see what the province has to offer, like the variety of seasons and locations — from the prairies to Edmonton’s river valley and big cities.

“We’re a really film-friendly region. It’s inexpensive to shoot, it’s easy to film here with great crew and great assets and infrastructure,” he said.

Advocacy group Keep Alberta Rolling, responding to the budget on social media, also said it will help grow the industry and benefit the province.

“The future is bright,” the group said on Twitter. “This represents increased jobs and investment in the sector and more opportunities to showcase our beautiful province.”

By: Lauren Boothby

Continue Reading at edmontonjournal.com

Michigan Matters: Film Incentives Making a Comeback?

(detroit.cbslocal.com)

 Southfield (CBS Detroit) – Michigan once had the most lucrative film incentives in the nation in 2008 but were ended in 2015. Now, some state legislators are trying to bring a modified version back as Peter Klein, Secretary-Treasurer of Michigan Film Industry Association, talked about on CBS 62’s “Michigan Matters.”

Klein talked with Carol Cain, Senior Producer/Host, and discussed how MIFIA has been working  with legislators who just introduced a two-tiered tax credit that provides incentives for Michigan-produced commercials as well as film, television and streaming productions.

State Sen. Adam Hollier, D-Detroit, State Sen. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, Reps. Kyra Bolden, D-Southfield, and Jack O’Malley, R-Lake Ann, are involved with the legislation. Senate Bills– SB 862-863 – is on its way to the Senate Economic and Small Business Development Committee, while House Bills, HB 5724-5725, is heading to the House Commerce and Tourism Committee.

Klein talked how the new initiative is a slimmed down version of what was launched in 2008. For more, see  www.mifia.org.

Ed Olson, CEO of May Mobility, the Ann Arbor based autonomous shuttle company, then appears with Cain to talk about his fast growing company. They are operating autonomous shuttles in Japan and major cities across the nation.

By: Detroit CBS Local

Continue Reading at detroit.cbslocal.com