Three years ago, Steven Spielberg came to Westchester County, N.Y., to shoot part of “War of the Worlds.” This summer, the director was in Connecticut filming the latest Indiana Jones adventure.
Among the stars shooting movies in Connecticut this summer were Robin Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and John Travolta.
They are part of a parade of Hollywood directors, producers and movie stars turning their backs on New York, the No. 2 state for film and TV production behind California, and heading to Connecticut. The Nutmeg State last year enacted a 30 percent movie tax credit that makes it the most generous state in the country for filmmakers.
Cash Call
A lot of money is at stake. Since New York enacted its 10 percent tax credit for filmmakers in 2004, 169 projects have spent $2.7 billion there, according to the state’s tax department. Since Connecticut’s tax credit took effect in July 2006, production companies have spent more than $300 million to make movies, TV shows and commercials in the state. That’s up from just $1 million in the first six months of 2006.
Steven Gorelick, associate director of the Motion Picture and Television Commission of New Jersey, used to hear from location managers seeking interesting or historic sites. Now the calls are coming from producers wanting to know about tax breaks.
“I’m really convinced that if the tax credit were 50 percent on the lunar surface, they would probably film there,” Gorelick said.
Stephen Apkon, executive director of the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, N.Y., said the reality is that producers must choose the best deal.
“It’s very hard to get a film financed these days, and people are watching their budgets very carefully,” he said. “If it makes sense to be in Bucharest or Vancouver or Greenwich, that’s where people will end up.”
Fighting Foreign Rivals
The incentive race started in 2002, when Louisiana became the first state to offer a tax credit. That year, $11.8 million was spent filming movies and TV shows in Louisiana. The next year, the total jumped to $212 million. Today, Louisiana is third in the country in film production.
Behind Louisiana’s move was a desire to keep movies in the United States after seeing Canada and other countries siphon productions with a mix of financial incentives and cheap labor, said Stephen Katz, executive director of the Center for Entertainment Industry Data and Research.
Movies such as “Hollywood Wives” were shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, with flatbed trucks hauling palm trees around town. The final straw that may have led New York to adopt an incentive program was when a biopic about former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was filmed in Montreal, Katz said.
Today, at least 35 states have targeted tax incentives for film and TV productions, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
Most of the incentives come with some strings attached. Some states, such as New York, require a certain percentage of production to take place in the state. Others, including Connecticut, set a minimum threshold for spending.
What makes some states’ programs especially enticing is what you can do with the credits after you get them.
New York’s credits can be used by an individual or a company that files a state tax return. Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania offer “transferable” tax credits. That means that movie studios, many based in California and without an East Coast tax obligation, can sell the credits to businesses that do, including banks, telecommunications companies and utilities.
Economic Effects
Filmmaking brings not only prestige, but economic benefits to a state.
For example, Westchester’s film office estimates that about $3 million a year has been coming into the local economy through fees to the county, municipalities and to individuals who rent their homes. Plus, with expenses like hotels, restaurants and shopping for supplies and equipment, the total effect of TV and movie production on the local economy has been almost $10 million a year.
Connecticut also hopes that moviemaking will translate to future tourism.
“It’s the ‘Mystic Pizza’ effect,” said Karen Senich, acting executive director of the Film Division of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. “Mystic Pizza is an actual place in Mystic, (Conn.). After the movie, and to this day, people come there because of the movie.”
Not everyone shares that enthusiasm. Nyack, N.Y., Mayor John Shields said no one in his village misses the hubbub of a major movie shoot.
“I get a lot of phone calls complaining when we have filming in the village,” Shields said. “ ‘I can’t walk on the sidewalk.’ ‘They make too much noise.’ ‘They put the ladder against my building.’ No one calls and says, ‘We’re happy this movie is being shot here.’ ”
