By Eric A. Haynes
This January, as I was moving to the Detroit area from Los Angeles, everyone asked me why I was heading to Michigan. To work in film production, duh! With Governor Snyder's proposed $25 million cap on the film tax incentive I am now asking myself the same question.
"Meet Monica Velour" was the first film I worked on here during the summer and fall of 2008, and I fell in love — with Michigan. I stayed in a Livonia hotel for four and a half months while working on the film. I was not about to sit in that hotel room on weekends, and at the time I didn't know I would be coming back in 2009 and 2010 to work on two more movies. So every weekend I was out and about, from the U.P. to Detroit to Saugatuck, and I made sure to see and do as much as I could. The state is beautiful — lakes, wineries, quaint downtowns, fall leaves, cider mill doughnuts, the list goes on and on.
Aside from the beautiful state of Michigan, I moved here for steady work in film production. Now that I live here, there is none. Last summer there were 10 different films shooting in and around Metro Detroit. Now? Two. Gov. Snyder's 2012 proposed budget scared off producers that were bringing films to Michigan. What's even more bizarre is the Michigan Film Office is operating as though the $25 million cap is already in place. The proposed budget is for 2012, not 2011.
Gov. Snyder, Michigan already lost the auto industry. Why do you want to kill the budding film industry that has brought more than $500 million into the state since April 2008? The tax incentive is not just about the bottom line and how much money you give out. It's also about employing Michiganders who otherwise would be collecting unemployment, watching their homes fall into foreclosure and having their cars repossessed.
And, I'm not just talking about the Michiganders the film employs. I'm talking about the convenience store clerk, waitress, rental car rep, hotel maid, theater ticket-taker, bartender, casino dealer, clothing store clerk, taxi driver, pharmacist, barista and all the other people the out-of-towner deals with while they're staying in Michigan.
OK, CliffsNotes version of the film tax incentive: Producers get 30 to 42 percent back for every dollar spent in the state of Michigan on qualifying expenditures, i.e. office supplies, lumber, costumes, rental cars, hotel rooms. And the tax incentive is not just for films; it also applies to television shows and video games. Every project that's approved to film in Michigan must go through an audit prior to receiving their tax incentive monies. More than $100 million was awarded to producers in 2010. A $25 million cap is not going to cut it. And, it hasn't. All it did was scare off producers.
I was supposed to start work April 4 on a film that would employ me for three and a half months. Because of the uncertainty of the tax incentive the film went to Toronto. Tell me again how I'm supposed to get a job in Michigan?
