Posted 26 April, 2010 in CA News
The California Film Commission (CFC), which administers the California Film & Tax Credit Program, provides detailed program information on our website. Recently, the Qualified Expenditure Charts for the tax credit program have been revised and/or clarified. Please refer to these updated charts posted to our website when tagging your budgets. Below, please find a summary of the more significant changes to the charts of which you should be aware:
1. Box Rentals/Car Allowances/Mileage qualify for qualified labor only.
2. Travel Day Salaries into or out of California do not qualify for either qualified or unqualified labor.
3. Loan Out Fringes do not qualify EXCEPT for Vacation & Holiday pay for qualified labor, and payroll company fees from a California based company.
4. 3-D costs, including 2D-3D conversions in post, are qualified expenditures.
5. Cut off date for tracking costs: Costs are qualified only until 30 days after creation of the final elements. Only expenditures incurred up to 30 days after that date shall be considered qualified expenditures (pre-paid items for services that have not yet been performed do not qualify).
6. Shipping costs for internet purchases only qualify if there is written proof the item was shipped within the state.
7. For Producer/Hyphenates, per diems qualify up to the amount commensurate with per diems given to other department heads.
The expenditure charts can be found on the CFC website at www.film.ca.gov. (Incentives tab). Please feel free to contact the CFC with any specific questions regarding the Tax Credit Program at 323-860-2960 x110.
Posted 20 April, 2010 in MI News
The current law includes language that a production company must include an acknowledgment that the production was film in Michigan. If passed, this bill will require all qualified productions to include, at a minimum, a “Filmed in Michigan” logo in the end credits similar in size and placement to other logos. In the event that no logos will be used in the end credits, the end credits must include the statement “Filmed in Michigan using Michigan’s Film Production Financial Incentive” or a similar statement approved by the Michigan Film Office. The “Filmed in Michigan” logo will be developed by the Michigan Film Office to be supplied to qualified productions.
Posted 20 April, 2010 in UT News
A Utah bill which relates to how the Utah Film Incentive fund is administered has been enacted. The bill provides that the Governor’s Office of Economic Development shall administer the fund; requires that production company reports are reviewed by an independent certified public accountant; and, allows the Governor’s Office to issue the cash rebate directly rather than having to submit their request to the Division of Finance.
Posted 20 April, 2010 in NM News
New Mexico Business Weekly
February 12, 2010
The Coen Brothers are returning to New Mexico to shoot their newest film – or at least part of it.
“True Grit” is a remake of the classic that starred John Wayne. Paramount Pictures will shoot parts of the film in March and April in Santa Fe and employ about 100 New Mexico cast and crew members.
Joel and Ethan Coen filmed their 2007 film “No Country for Old Men” in the state and it went on to receive four Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Javier Bardem.
Jeff Bridges also returns to New Mexico to star in the film as Rooster Cogburn, the aging and cynical deputy marshal originally played by Wayne, who won an Oscar for his portrayal. Bridges has garnered rave reviews and his own Oscar nomination for his leading role in “Crazy Heart,” also filmed in New Mexico. He appeared in another recent New Mexico production, “The Men Who Stare At Goats.”
Matt Damon will play Le Boeuf, a Texas ranger who joins Cogburn to help a young woman find the man who murdered her father and avenge his death. The film is based on a novel by Charles Portis.
No other cast members were announced, although the Internet Movie Database lists Josh Brolin in the cast. He also starred in “No Country for Old Men.”
Since 2003, when Gov. Bill Richardson took office and began pushing the existing film incentives in the state, including a 25 percent tax rebate, there have been 135 film and television productions shot here, with an estimated economic impact of $3 billion, according to the New Mexico Film Office.
Posted 20 April, 2010 in AZ News
Phoenix Business Journal
February 15, 2010
The Phoenix Film Office reports that the industry generated $38 million for the local economy last year, the biggest project being “Maneater,” a two-part miniseries for the Lifetime Movie Network about a socialite seeking the man of her dreams.
Overall in 2009, the film industry in Phoenix employed 4,795 technicians and actors who worked on 362 projects accounting for 1,290 shooting days and 2,080 hotel nights, the film office reported.
“Maneater,” which aired last May, employed hundreds of local crew members and actors during its three-month shooting schedule. Although the story was set in Los Angeles, producers selected Phoenix because of the visual similarities LA and the Motion Picture Tax Incentive Program administered by the Arizona Department of Commerce, according to the Phoenix Film Office.
The city also served as the backdrop for commercials promoting GoDaddy.com, Red Bull, University of Phoenix and Volkswagen. Television shows shooting here during the past year included “After Armageddon,” “America’s Most Wanted,” “Family Dynamics,” “Wife Swap,” “Supernanny” and “Sunset Daze.”
The Phoenix Film Office provides location assistance, information on technical crews, talent, hotel accommodations and permitting, and coordinates filming at city-owned locations.
Posted 20 April, 2010 in IA News
WhoTv.com
February 8, 2010
Criminal charges have been filed against two filmmakers, their companies and the former manager of the Iowa Film Office in connection with the alleged mishandling of tax incentives.
The Iowa attorney general’s office filed first-degree theft charges Monday against Wendy Runge, of St. Louis Park, Minn., and Matthias Saunders, of Minneapolis. A charge of nonfelonious misconduct was filed against former film office manager Thomas Wheeler, of Indianola.
Runge is part owner of Polynation Pictures, LLC, and Saunders owns Maximum Productions LLC. They are accused of unlawfully inflating values on applications for tax credits totaling more than $10,000. Runge and Saunders also created The Scientist, LL, as an Iowa company to make a film that would use Iowa film tax credits.
Gov. Chet Culver fired Wheeler last September. He’s accused of failing to verify eligibility of applicants for tax credits.
Wheeler’s attorney, Gordon Fischer, says the charges against Wheeler aren’t supported by facts or state law.
Posted 14 April, 2010 in CA News
Panel will study Industry’s economic impact
I am very pleased to have been appointed Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Preservation of California’s Entertainment Industry. The entertainment industry is extremely important to California’s economy and I am determined to do all that I can to keep it here.
As many of you know, I worked in the film and television business for many years before becoming an Assemblymember. This committee will give me the ability to continue to explain that production in California creates jobs and is important to the state’s financial well-being.
Posted 14 April, 2010 in MA News
http://www.mafilm.org/news-and-events/
Posted 14 April, 2010 in MA News
UMass Boston Study Finds State’s Film Industry among Fastest Growing in Nation. Positive Impacts Remain Even after Hollywood Productions Wrap.
http://www.mafilm.org/2010/02/11/umass-film-industry-boosts-local-jobs-and-businesses/
Posted 14 April, 2010 in MA News
Reported from The Professionals of Tax Credits, LLC:
The University of Massachusetts has completed a report on the Massachusetts Film Industry and the findings are very favorable. Please follow the link below for the full report. Of great importance is the finding that for every film tax credit dollar “invested” by the state, the economic impact is 1.79 to 1.95…which is nearly double.
http://www.management.umb.edu/faculty/workingpaper/foster_pacey/UMBCMWP1046.pdf
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