> U.S. State Feature Film Incentives & Tax Credits: 2012

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsBznn8D13zOdHVZN2NOQnV4em5nbTZZU2M3eXg2RGc#gid=0

Some states have "Hoe-lee sh!t!!" no hassle minimums and criteria, like Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania
And then there are some states that just want to make the whole process a PITA.
And then there are several that just don't care.
And then a few that kinda just make sense.

KRAYYYY-ZEEEEE!


I've yet to get a full handle on the difference between a credit and a rebate - but I'm working on it. :D


Howziss...?:
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/your-money/getting-personal/tax-credit-and-tax-rebate
"Generally speaking, tax credits only offset tax balances due - meaning if you have low income and owe nothing in tax, you get no benefit from a credit.
Whereas, tax rebates are paid to a taxpayer regardless whether a tax is payable.
There is an exception to this rule - the earned income tax credit which operates like a rebate.""


That looks like rebates will be much better, since tax credits are income dependent while rebates are expense dependent.
 
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Gotta be careful with some states, too. Texas, for example, has to approve the final cut of the film before you get your rebates/refunds/whatever. I think it was Hatchet II that found this out the hard way. Lawsuit underway. Other states just have to approve the script before you start shooting.
 
Ohhhh, yeah.

(Extended) Cell A10: "Almost always, even states without Film incentives, still require state permitting and/or registration."

Now, in South Dakota... you can pretty much just start doing whateverTH you want.
They don't seem to care.
http://www.filmsd.com/filming/default.aspx?id=16

Elsewhere?
Nah. They pretty much all want you to register, no matter your budget or credit/rebate aspirations.



I love New Mexico and Montana's film incentives.
http://www.montanafilm.com/incentives1.htm
http://www.nmfilm.com/filming/downloads/nm25PercentTaxCredit.pdf
 
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New Mexico looks pretty sweet! No minimum and 25% credit. I need to see what qualifies as "expenses". If it's salary and everything then awesome, if it's just gaff tape and c47's then not so much haha.
 
Page 2: State Film Incentives Arranged from Low to High by Minimums

20120509StateFilmIncentivesLo-HiMinimums.png

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsBznn8D13zOdHVZN2NOQnV4em5nbTZZU2M3eXg2RGc#gid=1

"Yes. Well. That's lovely, Ray. But what's the point?


- We have a fairly decent idea about what revenue any given genre and product is (and is not) capable of pulling down.
- Budget is our known controllable variable.
- If we could deliberately plan a budget less than our expected revenue while still hitting the minimum budget in our own or an adjacent state the film incentive reduces the film's break-even point by the amount recouped through credit or rebate.
- Profitability is more likely to be planned into the project.
- If the travel and hassle expense is less than the credit or rebate the strategy is sound, especially since many of the lodging taxes are exempt.
- It also gives us a clearer view of the gap between personal private equity and the film incentives that could be a goal for a crowdsource campaign.

20120509FilmIncentivePrivateEquityCrowdsourceExample.png
 
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Alright, I've thought about this some more overnight and I noticed a problem between a fixed point ending balance sheet and how things work out over time.

You can't spend 25% personal equity + 50% crowdsourced funds + claim 25% out of the thin air for tax credit or rebate and call that spending 100% of the minimum.
Noooo...
That's spending only 75% of the minimum. You ONLY get 25% credit or rebate if you spend 100% of the minimum or greater.
It really doesn't matter what percentage of the budget you spend NOW - it just has to reach the minimum before you can expect any money back - LATER.

We receive tax credit when we do taxes for the film. LATER.
We receive rebates when the film is done and the expense ledger reviewed. LATER.
The credit and rebates can be monetized up front NOW, but for pennies on the dollar (between 50¢ - 80¢), so that's just giving away the difference. :grumpy:

The issue is that we need to have AT LEAST 100% of the minimum NOW to be remunerated a portion of that outlay LATER.

An alternate approach is to raise the entire budget amount between personal equity and crowdsourcing to spend now and have the tax credit or rebate recoup the personal equity later.

20120509FilmIncentivePrivateEquityCrowdsourceCashFlowExample2.png




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You have to also consider the situation "today". Tennessee's fund to pay the incentives ran out and I don't think they appropriated the money to replenish it, so it may currently be null and void.
Yeah, I'm about to go back and update the front sheet of that spreadsheet to denote that just because I don't have a state's annual cap listed that certainly doesn't mean there isn't one.
And there's no way on Earth for me to keep a running tab on which states are tapped-out or not.
The rolling queues are nice though!
I'm guessing TN doesn't have one of those.

It might be worth the production hassle to consider skipping down the road just a bit to Mississippi and see if they have some usable funds.

http://www.visitmississippi.org/film/incentive-rebate-program-home.aspx

And westward to Arkansas as a fair alternative.

http://arkansasedc.com/arkansas-film-commission/incentives.aspx

us-southeast-24tg8qt.gif
Both MS & AR do rebates!

And if you're desperate, MO & IL ain't too bad, either, relative to TN's film incentives.



We're the worst state in the whole region. We lose a TON of production to Georgia and Louisiana. Things we pointed out to the legislature when we were trying to get them to allocate more funds.
Yeah...
It ain't the greatest film incentive. It actually is on the rather poor side of competitiveness.
Sorry. :(
 
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Yeah, I'm about to go back and update the front sheet of that spreadsheet to denote that just because I don't have a state's annual cap listed that certainly doesn't mean there isn't one.
And there's no way on Earth for me to keep a running tab on which states are tapped-out or not.
The rolling queues are nice though!
I'm guessing TN doesn't have one of those.

It might be worth the production hassle to consider skipping down the road just a bit to Mississippi and see if they have some usable funds.

http://www.visitmississippi.org/film/incentive-rebate-program-home.aspx

And westward to Arkansas as a fair alternative.

http://arkansasedc.com/arkansas-film-commission/incentives.aspx

us-southeast-24tg8qt.gif
Both MS & AK do rebates!

And if you're desperate, MO & IL ain't too bad, either, relative to TN's film incentives.


We're the worst state in the whole region. We lose a TON of production to Georgia and Louisiana. Things we pointed out to the legislature when we were trying to get them to allocate more funds.
 
The minimums are often different for different types of productions, too (for example, if you make a documentary in Kentucky, the minimum isn't $500,000 it is $50,000).
Agreed.

First page.
Cells A7 & A8. :)


It's not a comprehensive spreadsheet at all.
It's greatest value is simply everything between cells E14 and E74. :yes:
 
Aw, you were just testing to see if I was paying attention. ;)

And "Thank you."

About ten states in I got so giddy excited over the list I had a difficult time resisting premature posting! :lol:
 
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Colorado will be shifting around their film incentive numbers in July.
http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=24920&page=72

  • From 10% to 20% rebates
  • From 25% Colorado workforce to 50%
  • In-state prod.co.s will remain at $100k minimum in state spend
  • Out-of-state prod.co.s will have to increase spending from $250k to $1m.



It's still not all that comptitive with adjacent states.

usmap.gif


Colorado $100,000 minimum spend & 20% rebate, compare to:
(Starting from the 1 o'clock position)
  • Nebraska's got nothing going on.
  • Kansas $100,000 minimum spend & 30% credit
  • Oklahoma $50,000 minimum spend & 37% rebate
  • Texas $250,000 minimum spend & 5% rebate(?) minimum spend &
  • New Mexico $0 minimum spend & 25% credit
  • Arizona's got nothing going on.
  • Utah $200,000 minimum spend & 15% rebate
  • Wyoming $200,000 minimum spend & 15% credit

Better options in KS & OK, and NM is just plain hard to beat.
The rebate increase from a regional low of 10% to 20% at least puts it ahead of UT and WY
 
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Follow up: filmmaker Dan Adams gets 2 to 3 years in prison for tax credit fraud

From: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=262397#post262397


Cape Cod filmmaker Dan Adams gets 2 to 3 years in prison for $4.7 million tax-credit fraud
05/10/2012 8:17 PM
http://www.boston.com/businessupdat...redit-fraud/8TPt1etUpPHyLUpoccxLkN/story.html

"Daniel Adams, the Cape Cod filmmaker convicted of fraud for illegally obtaining $4.7 million in state film tax credits, was sentenced Thursday to two to three years in state prison.

Following his release, Adams faces 10 years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution to the state under the sentence imposed by Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Carol Ball."



Dumb@ss. :lol:

 
Record 322 Movie and TV Projects Vie for $100 Million in California Tax Credits
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/california-tax-credits-movie-tv-projects-332260

"The California Film Commission received a record 322 applications Friday for a share of the $100 million or more in funding available annually through the state’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program, of which 28 have been selected to receive tax credits.

Only 28 projects are picked from lottery to get funding.

Last year the commission received 176, of which 27 received funding. Ultimately, 74 projects received credits from last year’s allocation.

In June 2010, there were 70 applications, of which 43 eventually received funding valued at $121 million. That means the number of applicants has nearly doubled each year."


2010 70 applications, 43 received funding.
2011 176 applications, 27 initially received funding, 74 eventually.
2012 322 applications, 28 (initially) received funding.

“The increase [in 2011 from 24 to 74 projects] was due to the large number of smaller independent projects that moved form the waiting list to receive credits as larger projects withdrew form the program


Among productions in California in the past year that benefited from the state tax credit program were HBO’s Hemmingway and Gellhorn, the feature films Argo, Dunderheads, Nina, and the independently financed features Bachelorette Party, Decoding Annie Parker, Lovelace, Lowdown, Suicide Kings 2, Trust Me and Vocal Chords of Freedom. Cable TV series include Franklin and Bash, Justified, Men of a Certain Age, the Nine Lives of Chloe King, Pretty Little Liars, Rizzoli & Isles, The Protector, and Perception. The two TV series returning to California are Body of Proof and Torchwood.

The breakdown of approved projects (and percentage of the total it represents) for 2011 was studio features 4 (14.8 percent), independent features 10 (37 percent), (cable) TV series 10 (37 percent), independent movies of the week 1 (3.7 percent) and TV series that relocated to California from other states 2 (7.4 percent).

There is a 25 percent credit for independent films [20% for studio films], with a budget over $1 million and under $10 million. Of the $100 million authorized each year, $10 million is reserved to fund independently produced movies.”


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