Film credit backers told to push Lansing
‘What happens depends on what you do’
About 500 supporters of Michigan’s film industry gathered Thursday evening in Troy to learn how they could save the state’s movie production business from Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget ax. The meeting at the Troy Marriott occurred a week after more than a thousand people showed up in Livonia to express support for the industry, which would likely be crippled if Snyder succeeds in his plan to drastically scale back incentives for filmmakers. Thursday’s gathering, billed as a call to action, lacked the drama of the previous meeting. But it offered supporters — people who work in the industry, union members and small-business owners — advice about how to win the hearts of lawmakers in Lansing. “The film credit as we know it will not continue to exist anymore,” Jim Ryan, a lobbyist at Lansing-based Public Affairs Associates, told the crowd. “There are going to be changes. What happens depends on what you do.” Ryan is a board member of Michigan Film First, a new industry group that organized Thursday’s meeting. He and speaker after speaker urged attendees to meet with their state senators and representatives, telling them why the movie industry matters in Michigan. The Michigan film tax credit program, effective since April 2008, pays production companies up to 42% of the Michigan-based costs of state-approved film or video projects . When it files its taxes, the production company applies the credit to eliminate state taxes it owes, which are usually minimal, and then the state writes the company a check for the balance. Snyder has proposed allocating $25 million a year for filmmakers. But the industry strongly opposes that cap because it would limit production to a handful of small films a year. At Thursday’s meeting, Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton, D-Huntington Woods, told the audience that economic development incentives, such as the film credits, need to be kept for at least five years before their effectiveness can be assessed.
Sadly though, the tide isn't likely to turn for the bigger credits as I'm sure Snyder was aware that the cuts would cause a stir and that he is going to stick to his guns anyways. I will be curious to see how this conversation develops and how the money that is being allocated for "smaller films" might be used to grow our own industry and talent.
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