Why Hollywood Still Matters

From the articles criticizing the engorged budgets of films like "GI Joe" and "Land of the Lost" to the plunging prices of media stock chronicled in salacious detail by media analysts, one would think that the buzzards were already circling the Sony, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros and Fox lots. While some see the downfall of this corporatized system as the dawn of a new era of a more democratized system of filmmaking, I think Hollywood is needed now more than ever.

Take a look at the countrywide efforts by lawmakers to add filmmaking tax incentives to their budgets. Much attention has been given to "Gran Torino", one of the first movies (if not the first) to be made in Michigan since lawmakers enacted a 42% tax credit for film productions with budgets over $50,000. On Kim Masters The Business, Gran Torino producer Bill Gerber cited the incentive as the main reason they decided set the film in the suburbs of Detroit rather than Minneapolis as the writer Nick Schenk, had originally envisioned.

Michigan is only one of a dozen to do so. Massachusetts, Lousiana, and New York are other states that have publicized their hefty rebates in an effort to woo producers fat with studio money. Just last Thursday, North Carolina signed legislation that will give production companies a 25 percent tax credit for film projects in North Carolina. That’s a boost from the previous credit of 15 percent.

Critics of these programs want lawmakers to roll back the incentives, questioning their wisdom in the face of high state budget deficits. Massachusetts State Representative Steve D'Amico claims productions don't employ enough local labor and don't invest in putting down roots in order to chase higher subsidiaries in other states. But with the high number of new films and television series going into production each year, the incentive programs seem to be worth the risk. The numbers provided in an online ABC News story about the Michigan incentive show how much the film industry has done to create jobs and sustain small businesses:

In 2007, before Michigan offered the credit, two films were shot there. In 2008, after the credit was enacted, 35 films were, according to the Michigan Film Office. In 2009, there are already 85 movies made or with production applications filed with the state. In 2007, moviemakers spent $2 million producing in the Great Lakes state. In 2008, that soared to $125 million.

And its not only Michigan thats profiting. A study published by the New Mexico film office found that in 2007 local governments earned approximately $1.50 for each $1.00 of state credit. In addition, 2007 productions activities created 2,200 direct jobs. When factoring in film related capital spending, the number rises to 3,769.+/-

To take a another contemporary example, the recently enhanced incentives offered by New York allowed Ang Lee to shoot "Taking Woodstock" in Lebanon, New York rather than on an LA film set. “’Taking Woodstock’ is a New York story, but without the enhanced tax credit incentive we never could’ve filmed in New York,” says executive producer Celia Costas. The benefits proved to be twofold. According to the popular production newsletter "Resource 411", the production ‘Taking Woodstock’ generated an estimated $8 million to boost the local economy and spent nearly $25 million throughout New York State. In an article about the film published in the NYTimes on August 23rd, locals couldn't say enough positive things about the effects of the shoot on their community. Mr. Lee remembers how one woman stopped him and said: "All the events are on the other side of the border, in Massachusetts. Finally [the residents of Lebanon] have got a cultural event here." Restaurant owner Michael DeBella told the Times reporter "Without the movie, I doubt we would have made it through last winter. That's how close to closing we were."

While its easy to decry the excesses and waste of corporate Hollywood, its these same corporations that are helping (in no small part) to bring new jobs and renewed pride to economically depressed areas. Does this mean I think Jeff Bewkes deserves a Distinguished Service Award? No, but just as there's a need for small independent productions to push the boundaries of storytelling and distribution, I think there's also a need for the big, bloated productions of Spiderman and the like to keep pumping a little movie magic into areas that could use it.