Film Tax Incentives Are a Giant Waste of Money, New Study Finds

[dark_b]

http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/film-tax-incentives-waste-of-money-study-1201840189/
“The promise was this was going to diversify the economy, that they were going to draw Hollywood out of Hollywood,” Thom said in an interview. “In general, this does not pay off.”

USC research finds tax incentives for films are a poor investment
https://news.usc.edu/105673/starstr...ars-on-hollywood-productions-usc-study-finds/
Nearly all 50 states have lured Hollywood productions with millions of dollars in special tax incentives for filmmaking, but new USC research shows the incentives fail to deliver the long-term economic benefits promised by industry lobbyists and lawmakers. “The incentives are a bad investment. States pour millions of tax dollars into a program that offers little return,” said lead author Michael Thom, an assistant professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy who specializes in public finance. “We looked at job growth, wage growth, states’ share of the motion picture industry and the industry’s output in each state. On average, the only benefits were short-term wage gains, mostly to people who already work in the industry. Job growth was almost nonexistent. Market share and industry output didn’t budge.”

 

[mclay18]

Um, this isn't a fair assessment. It doesn't take into effect tourism, which if you have a popular movie that has prominent on-location filming, will draw in tourists wanting to experience the locations themselves. Southport has experienced a big tourist bump since Safe Haven came out, the New Mexico locations for "Breaking Bad" are bringing in tourists, as well as Charlotte's DuPont National Forest being a prominent character in The Hunger Games.

Outside of the United States, other countries like Canada, Europe, Australia, et al offer up tax credits as well, and there's nothing in that article saying "tax credits don't work!" for those countries. It feels like a one-sided argument.

I get what the article is getting at, but by that token, it glosses over the problems that can be fixed.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I've gone to places just because they were in movies/tv shows myself.

 

[TheVileOne]

I'm not saying it's wrong, but a lot of outsourced productions will also draw in considerable local talent. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, since it filmed in England, used a lot of British talent to fill out its supporting cast. IE Peter Serafinowicz, Laura Haddock, Ophelia Lovibond, Karen Gillan, and Christopher Fairbank, all British talent who got featured roles in that film.

So you get prominent British talent featured roles in a gigantic Hollywood production. You can argue there's a benefit there. Plus I imagine, when those films take their productions outside of Hollywood, the below the line crew will I would guess primarily be comprised of local talent and builders.

Also, you can't tell me that shooting in New Zealand for say the Lord of the Rings franchise was a waste of money, or shooting in England for Harry Potter, if those productions received tax incentives. I'm sure getting those productions in those countries paid off big time if there were tax incentives.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Or Tunisia with Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

 

[mclay18]

So you get prominent British talent featured roles in a gigantic Hollywood production. You can argue there's a benefit there. Plus I imagine, when those films take their productions outside of Hollywood, the below the line crew will I would guess primarily be comprised of local talent and builders.

Also, you can't tell me that shooting in New Zealand for say the Lord of the Rings franchise was a waste of money, or shooting in England for Harry Potter, if those productions received tax incentives. I'm sure getting those productions in those countries paid off big time if there were tax incentives.

Oh definitely. If you pay attention to the end credits for movies filmed in, say, England, you'll notice there's overlap in terms of art directors, draughtsmen, costumers, prop builders, gaffers, and sound mixers. Since all the Potter films shot in England, most of the crew were gainfully employed and retained even with different directors. Movies shot at WB's Leavesden Studios location tend to employ the same pool of people, and the bigger the project, the more money to hire more local talent.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

I think it only helps if there's significant number of movies/tv shows in development all year. Schools can start programs to get local talent ready for jobs on set.

Atlanta has definitely benefitted greatly. North Carolina, while I was there, didn't really make much a dent in the talent pool/economy.