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Film Industry Means Too Much To Call "Lights, Camera, Inaction!"

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2008

The film business brings big dollars to Florida - more than $256 million in wages, products and services over the past four years. The entertainment industry creates thousands of jobs for Floridians.

But facing extreme budget pressures this year, state lawmakers slashed the film incentive fund from $25 million to $5 million.

You know what happened next.
Production houses began doing business in states that dangle better carrots. Two of Florida's leading competitors - Arizona and North Carolina - now offer better incentives to attract television and movie productions.

One movie company that planned to film in the Tampa Bay area - starring Betty White - is instead headed for Michigan, which annually offers the industry $20 million in tax credits.

"The day it was made known to the industry that we had downgraded our incentives, we lost a recurring series that would have pumped $20 million into the economy," said Graham Winick, Miami Beach's film and event production manager.
Winick is president of Film Florida, a film-community trade group that is working on a reasonable plan to keep the Sunshine State competitive in the entertainment business.

As it stands, the Florida incentive program gives production companies a rebate on the sales taxes paid while doing business here. For example, the hit HBO movie "Recount" on the 2000 presidential election received a $2.3 million rebate last year. And the much-anticipated feature film "Marley & Me" starring Jennifer Aniston, which was filmed in Miami, received a $1.6 million rebate.

But rebates require lawmakers to set aside a chunk of money so that checks can be written in a timely fashion. Under pressure to fund essential state services for people in need, the Legislature saw the film fund this year as an easy target.

Certainly, lawmakers must give priority to children in foster care and seniors in nursing homes. But the movie business is the kind of clean industry that Florida should be working to attract. Middle ground must be found.

It's unfortunate that private companies expect government handouts, er, incentives, to do business in a community. But that's how cities and states play the game these days. And those that refuse to pony up lose business to regions that do.

Still, Florida could take a cue from other states and restructure its movie-business incentives to make them more manageable.

The biggest carrot offered in other states - a tax credit on personal income taxes - can't be offered in Florida since we don't have a state income tax.

But since Florida does charge a corporate tax, lawmakers could explore a corporate tax credit for movie companies doing business here. This approach offers two advantages. First, tax credits don't require the state to write a check, though they would lower tax revenues at the end of the year. Second, this mechanism would encourage out-of-state companies to work with Florida-owned and licensed businesses that build sets, run the lights or manage details.

Film companies prefer the rebate system, since it puts cash on the table. Rather than lose this competitive advantage, the industry suggests a hybrid approach that lowers the sales-tax rebate but adds a corporate tax credit.

The compromise makes sense, given Florida's ambitions to grow its entertainment sector.

Good things are happening with Florida's film industry. "Recount," which was filmed in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, recently received 11 Emmy nominations. On a lesser-known scale, ProductionHUB.com of Orlando made Movie Maker Magazine's Top 50 list of Web sites for filmmakers.
State lawmakers should compromise on incentives to ensure the movie business can play its role in the state's economic recovery.

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