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City councilors to Patrick: Don't cut moviemaking tax credit
By adamg on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 1:14pm
Boston city councilors said today that Gov. Patrick's plan to cut the amount of money available to companies that make movies in Massachusetts would harm a nascent industry in the state.
City Councilor John Tobin (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), who submitted a call for a hearing on the financial impact of the change, compared moviemaking to the Red Sox. Sure, David Ortiz and other players make "an obscene amount of money," but they're also responsible for hiring large numbers of local residents.
The tax credit "puts men and women from the city of Boston, and from around the Commonwealth, to work," Tobin said.
Councilor Bill Linehan, (South Boston, South End) said, if anything, the state should be looking at expanding the credit to bring more jobs here.
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Comments
Let's go to the tape
I think if you watch today's meeting on BNN, you can hear me cough loudly during this; the idea that the film credit is a "win-win" is one of the biggest lies the state government has ever told us.
Oh, John if part of your income depended
on films being made in Boston, you would not be so quick to cough. And if you don't believe me, you can ask The Four Seasons or the Liberty Hotel, both of which have hosted entire crews from movies shot here for months! Or you can ask the owners of Soundtrack in the South End , where the casts of "The Zookeeper" , "Knight and Day" and many others all did their looping there. Or you can ask me, who got to keep 2 extra guys on all summer doing transportation for films shot here, 2 guys I would otherwise have had to let go after the fit hit the shan here due to the recession. Or maybe you might want to take a ride over to Local 25 and share your thoughts on this subject with the boys over there. Bottom line, they spend money here.
Come on now, don't go bringing facts into the discussion
The benefits of the tax credit are measurable. More people in the film *and related* industries are getting work because of this credit. Not only hotels and local studios, but also restaurants, caterers, even local retailers such as shopkeepers, etc. They all benefit from the tax credit.
The fact that local unions support this is even more proof that LOCAL jobs are being created.
UMass study finds fast growing film biz
Positive Impacts Remain Even after Hollywood Productions Wrap.
I've studied it enough
Thanks for the comment. I think it's a waste of taxpayer money. 'Nuf said.
Analysis?
John,
I'm curious, is there an analysis somewhere that shows what this subsidy actually costs? I prefer to avoid making a knee-jerk reaction like "Well, my neighbor wouldn't be working if it weren't for this subsidy!". The question is, at what cost? I simply don't know.
Thanks.
Multiple states have found the credits cost > benefit
The MA DOR said the state gets back 16 cents on the dollar. Across the country, similarly poor returns have been found. Yes, there is a tangible impact for a specific group of people hired/retained, but the credits are being financed by many many people through taxes. Many of those folks may have been less likely to lose jobs if the money was going to a bridge project, or supporting local businesses through the less glamorous channels, or perhaps FUNDING LOCAL AID.
Having been involved in an economic impact analysis before, keep in mind the companies take credit for those far removed from the business benefiting based on circulation of money.
For instance: it may partially take credit for the employment of the babysitter who watches the children of the woman who sells the milk that's used in the coffee made by the shop where a film employee bought coffee.
Here are a few articles/docs that address this...there are many more available on the internet.
http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dor/business/outstat...
http://www.massbudget.org/documentsearch/findDocum...
http://www.cleveland.com/movies/index.ssf/2009/09/...
It's a gamble
Basically, do you just blow off all of the money Hollywood is throwing around these days or do you take a stab at becoming a Mini-Hollywood?
If we convince the movie studios that *THIS* is the place they want to tape outside of southern CA and NYC, then hopefully they'll build a local studio (as was considered in Plymouth). Once we've got them anchored here, you lighten/rescind the tax cuts. It's going to still be reasonable for them to stay once that they've invested in real estate and construction to have a permanent location here. Then, you're making up the money you "lost" by cutting them a sweetheart deal in the first place and at some point, you'll turn the corner and be making a profit on your newly established industry.
Unfortunately, especially in the day of large digital transfers, superior green-screening technologies, etc., it's way too easy for these guys to take advantage of the initial tax breaks and still do all of their business out of the studios in southern CA or NYC. They don't *need* to shoot "on location" anywhere nearly as much as they used to because the computers can provide the authenticity of the real thing. They don't feel the *need* to establish anything locally that could be taxed heavier later...so they just take advantage of the tax breaks, never put as much back into the system as they're being given for free...and then move on (or keep doing it until someone finally kills the tax breaks).
So, if we can convince them this is such a great place that they should establish here...well, then we might see a return on our investment in the near future. If we don't and they live like nomads and scurry as soon as we stop shoveling them incentives, then it's all a net loss.
More details
To the person who asked for more information on the MA film credit program, I recommend reading all the articles on the MassINC / Commonwealth magazine / Commonwealth UnBound websites.
Here's a good place to start. Then, just search on "mass film credit" to find other results.
http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/CW-Unbound/Rev...
P.S. I would never base my own opinion on what's "good" for me or not "good" for me.
P.P.S. The Boston Herald calls the tax credit program "Follywood".