3-14-08
Will There Be a Brawl Over the Tax Credit?
So, the writers’ strike is over; the actors, with SAG and AFTRA’s tenuous reconciliation, look like they’re not running headlong into another work stoppage; and film work is going gangbusters in Chicago right now, especially with Michael Mann’s big budget Public Enemy just revving up for a three month stay.
And if the actors do reach a deal by the beginning of June, then we should be OK for the summer, right?
Not according to film professionals in Illinois, whose focus is not on Hollywood, but on Springfield.
Illinois’ Film Tax Credit expired at the end of 2007, mired in the budget morass that had Springfield—and much of the state—paralyzed. Everyone expected that the state legislature would take it up at the beginning of the year. The House did, passing the film production incentive renewal in early January. But the state Senate has yet to take up the bill and, as of the first week in March, Illinois still has no production tax incentive.
This has film producers and other industry people in Illinois worried. Wisconsin’s generous film incentives just went into effect, and a number of other states around the country offer generous tax breaks or give-backs to producers. As Illinois tries to woo Hollywood production to the Windy City, says Eileen Willenborg, they’re finding that “once a producer hears, ‘We don’t have an incentive,’ they don’t hear anything else.”
Willenborg is the vice-president of the Illinois Production Alliance (IPA) and executive director of AFTRA in Chicago. She and other film professionals have been lobbying hard since December for the one-year production incentive to be renewed. But they’re running into a strange politics that one film insider says revolves around Jerry Springer.
Jerry Springer?
Springer, who shoots his show at NBC Channel 5 in Chicago, is apparently threatening to move to Florida. So, NBC/Universal has prevailed upon Illinois legislators to make him stay—by including talk shows in the film production incentive.
When the state tax incentive was first passed five years ago, talk shows were specifically omitted. The goal, said Willenborg, was to attract new production, and talk shows didn’t fit that category.
Now Senator Ricky Hendon, who has been the Senate sponsor of the bill, wants to put them in—and keep Jerry Springer in town. If the Senate passes such a bill, then the measure would have to go back to the House. That could take months.
Meanwhile, says Chicago Film Office director Rich Moskal, “We are busier at this time of year than we would normally be.” Public Enemy, with shoots scheduled around Chicago and Wisconsin, will be here till June. And three other Hollywood films—Baby on Board, The Unborn and the Tillman and Teitel produced Humboldt Park—are shooting now. There are also a number of indie films on Chicago’s streets. (See Shot by Shot, online at performInk.com)
But, says Moskal. “Nobody’s planning to be in production anytime after June 30.”
That’s partly because of the fear of another strike in Hollywood, but some of it is due to the expired tax credit. And some industry insiders are afraid that the inclusion of talk shows will only delay passage.
“This is going to become a political hot potato,” said one. “People are going to say, ‘Why should we give money to Jerry Springer, or why should we give money to Oprah Winfrey?’”
Willenborg is more hopeful. The IPA and the Illinois Film Office have asked Senator Hendon to introduce the bill this week—with the talk show incentive. She’s also hoping that both the Senate and House will pass the revised bill by April 1, when the legislature goes on hiatus.
“We’re hoping they do the right thing and get this bill passed so we can bring production here. Otherwise, we’re DOA,” said Willenborg.
“Hollywood is making its second half of the year decisions this month,” she added, “and if we don’t have an incentive, we’re going to lose the business. It might already be too late. They may be tired of waiting for us.”
If it is passed, the incentive will only be for 2008. The IPA tried to get a two-year-for-one vote and extend the bill into 2009, but Hendon refused.