Posted 26 April, 2008 in MA News
Producer Dana Brunetti has acknowledged that he and fellow producer
Kevin Spacey had originally planned to film most of his gambling movie
21 in Toronto or Chicago until he was lured to Massachusetts by a
$5-million tax credit. Brunetti told Bloomberg News that the other
incentives were significantly less attractive and that Boston offered
a better setting since the true story concerned a group of MIT card
sharks. Nevertheless, the tax credits that the filmmakers received
have sparked political debate over the role of government in
supporting private businesses. “There’s something obscene about giving
Hollywood producers, with all their money, a tax break,” Republican
state Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei told the news service. And
Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation in
Boston, said, “We’re not getting sufficient payback of this as an
investment.” Bloomberg reported that in the past two years the state
has contributed $138 million to 88 film ventures and generated $544
million in wages and other production spending. Nicholas Paleologos,
head of the Massachusetts Film Office observed that that amount
doesn’t include such things as additional wages for workers at hotels
serving film crews.
Posted 8 April, 2008 in MI News
http://fox17.trb.com/news/040708-wxmi-mifilm,0,1874855.story
Posted 5 April, 2008 in OK News
OklaFilm & OklaMusic
April 3, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY– Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. (DOKC) today announced the launch of a video contest inviting amateur and professional filmmakers to capture and present their own version of downtown Oklahoma City ’s momentum. The winner will be announced at the 22nd annual Dean A. McGee Awards to be held on Thursday, May 22, at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel and will receive a cash prize, transferrable Oklahoma City University scholarship and other awards. The winner will receive a $1,500 cash award from Downtown OKC, Inc., a $1,000 transferrable scholarship to Oklahoma City University , participation and recognition at the Dean A. McGee Awards and featured placement on the Downtown OKC website for one year.
Each video entry should focus on capturing the excitement of downtown Oklahoma City and reflective of the growing momentum brought on through increased residential housing, new hotels and mixed-use developments, expanded events, office space, entertainment and development of the Oklahoma River .
The video length must not exceed two minutes and be produced on a DVD in a Windows Media Player or QuickTime file format. All entries must be delivered to Downtown OKC, Inc., located at 210 Park Avenue, Suite 230, by Friday, May 2, and include name, address, phone number and email address.
For more information, please call Downtown OKC, Inc. at 235-3500.
