One of our Studio Co-Executives was able to go to the Film Day on the Hill this morning. He was able to connect with a number of other members of the Motion Picture Association of Utah (MPAU) and members of the Utah Film Commission.
A discussion was held about the importance of the Motion Picture Tax Incentive and how increasing the incentive would bring more work to Utah.
Currently, the bill in front of the State Senate is SB81. The bill will remove the $500K project cap on the cash rebate program, with receives $1.5 Million of ongoing funding.
This cap currently limits the size of projects that can apply to this program. The problem with lower budget projects is that they hire less crew, shoot for fewer days and limits the amount of money circulated back into the local economy.
All members of the Utah film Industry are encouraged to contact their elected official and inform them of the importance of the Tax Incentive Program.
Also, the Business, Economic Development and Labor (BEDL) Appropriation committee is also deciding on a one time $10 Million additional appropriation for the Tax Incentive Budget. This would be on top of the current $8.29 Million, increasing the budget to $18.29 Million.
This is only a one time addition. However, this year is a field test to see if the budget will be profitable for the State. Next year, if it can be shown that the $10 Million addition was effective in bringing projects and jobs to Utah, then it will go to a vote for the $10 Million addition to be ongoing funding.
This additional $10 Million is not enough to allow all $90 million in projects that are turned away every year to come, but it will allow about half of those projects to film here.
What needs to be shown is that any increase in the Tax Incentive Budget will bring projects to Utah, create jobs in Utah and bulster the economy. Currently, the incentive is doing just that. For every $1 in the Incentive Budget, the State earns $8.
With a budget of $8.29 Million this is roughly $66.3 million brought into the State. With the budget increased to $18.29 Million, this could equate to $146 Million in revenue for the State.
The problem is, this is a chicken and egg thing. There needs to be projects incentivize the budget increase, but without the budget increase, there is no incentive for projects to come. That is the conundrum.
