In the early to mid 1990's, production for movies and television series began producing media in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. Production was cheaper to produce outside of the United States because of tax incentives. Canada exploded in media production and is now a major player in the industry with cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City all being credible in the production of film, television, and even video games.
Hollywood Is Still A Film Hotspot
After a few years, states fought back to have film production back in the United States. California is still seen has the capitol of entertainment and film production, and that will likely be the case for many years to come because of the already established infrastructure. The Los Angeles area still houses the post-production studios, and many animated films are produced in Los Angeles or up north in San Francisco. California's film industry looks bleak compared to twenty years ago. Only ten percent of the top 25 movies were produced in California in the last few years, and jobs in the field have decreased by 12% in the past decade. To combat the recent trend of film production being exported to other locations, California has adopted a new tax incentive that will triple the amount to $330 million annually.
Louisiana Was One of Many Locations For Jurassic World
Louisiana has taken production away from California, and has more feature films and television shows filmed than California. The nickname "Hollywood Down South" came about because of the lucrative production in the southern state. Louisiana has added nearly 3,000 jobs in film production in the past decade; production studios for movies and television have exploded, and there are no signs of slowing down. The tax incentives in the state have no cap, and keep attracting producers. Louisiana is such a big player in the industry that in 2015 Lousiana had 18 studio films; while California and Canada were tied with 15 films each.
Georgia has recently gained more recognition in the entertainment industry. The explosion of The Walking Dead placed Georgia as the focal point for Hollywood productions. Pinewood Studios is currently building a 288 acre studio with six soundstages. Georgia has skilled employees because of the Turner Broadcasting System in the Atlanta region; which has allowed for production studios to sprout up and attract more talented workers to the area. Also, because of Turner Broadcasting's dominance in the area, camera, sound, and lighting equipment are easily made available to production sites. The accessibility of Atlanta also makes the area a favorite. Atlanta is a major transportation destination, and allows actors, directors, and employees to easily travel back-and-forth from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
Georgia Has Benefited Greatly From The Walking Dead
A few notable mentions are New York, Illinois, and New Mexico.
A detailed informative explanation of tax incentives of each state are available at Film Production Capitol.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Tax Incentives
Tax incentives are a great way to attract any business to a location. By offering incentives, costs of production decrease for production. Supporters cite that employment increases as well. These employment opportunities are to aid with production, and assembling sets. At times, the employment may aid post production studios, but more than likely post production will be done in southern California, or New York City. The local economy is projected to increase revenue because of the added jobs and tourism. Film production is a harbinger for attention that reels in thousands of visitors from within the drive-able area.
There are many negatives to the idea of subsidizing film and television production. Many states can not realistically afford to pay millions in incentives. In Massachusetts, the Governor called to use the $80 million film tax credit to pay for more practical uses. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue reported that $50 million of the $304 million in production costs went to Massachusetts vendors. It was also reported that the state lost $128,575 for every film job created for a Massachusetts resident.
In Louisiana, taxpayers paid $170 million in 2012 for film production and cost taxpayers more than $12,000 for every job created by the tax incentive, but some studies say taxpayers paid $60,000 for every job. Lawmakers are debating capping the rewards given in tax incentives. Each state is engaged in a "bidding war" to attract film studios to their respective states. For example, Netflix has recently influenced Maryland to extend its tax incentive, or House of Cards would be filmed elsewhere. States are bound to their incentives. The entertainment industry is an expensive and time consuming process that requires an extensive amount of capital. For the audience to continue receiving highly produced motion pictures, studios need to take advantage of "free" money.
Tax incentives are not going away anytime soon. States that can not afford to subsidize film and television production will lose out. New states that can afford to give tax incentives will do so and attract employment for production and post-production. Illinois is an example of a state that is growing in attractability because of incentives. Studios are being founded and more films and television shows are regularly being shot in Chicago. Will California's new tax incentive program give the state the jump-start it needs to be the apex in film production of the world? Only time will tell.
