"If you scale back now, you probably lose everything": State Tax Incentives and the Motion Picture Industry

Patrick Preston
Bay State College

Abstract

Examines the analyses of film production tax incentives by evaluators (key government agencies, industry stakeholders, and third parties) looking at U.S. state programs for developing their respective states into regional hubs for non-Los Angeles/New York City productions. Beginning with a short overview of successful alternative film production sites such as Vancouver, British Columbia and Louisiana, this study then looks at the popularity of these programs over the 2000s and the challenges facing them. These challenges include political pressure to end “wasteful” tax incentives, disproportionate benefit to out-of-state residents, and wide discrepancy among the states regarding appropriate data for program evaluation. This study concludes with the author’s predictions on the potential outcome for these types of programs.

Keywords: motion picture industry, film production, tax incentives, state tax incentives, Vancouver, Louisiana

Preston, Patrick. “‘If you scale back now, you probably lose everything’: State Tax Incentives and the Motion Picture Industry.” Journal of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association 13, no. 1 (2013): 181-205. https://doi.org/10.25101/13.9

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