Written by new-contact on May 11, 2012. Posted in Incentive News

Ernst & Young assesses wider benefits of US location filming incentives

A new report from accountancy giant Ernst & Young has assessed the benefits of location filming incentives in the US. It coincides with a report from New York on the state’s location filming success through features like Men in Black 3.

Nearly 40 US states currently have filming incentives of one kind or another, with California, New York and Louisiana the central production hubs. Incentives have proved controversial over the past year or so with several states curbing their programmes or cutting them altogether to tackle budget deficits.

Conservatives tend to oppose filming incentives as they see them as pandering needlessly to millionaire Hollywood producers, but the Ernst & Young report counters this.

Robert Cline is National Director of State and Local Tax Policy Economics for Ernst & Young: “The primary benefits of film credits to state residents are increased employment and higher incomes generated by film production activities.

The economic benefits to residents extend beyond the production activities themselves and include increased activity by suppliers to the film industry and increased consumer spending from higher incomes.

Robert Cline, Ernst & Young

“However, the economic benefits to residents extend beyond the production activities themselves and include increased activity by suppliers to the film industry and increased consumer spending from higher incomes.”

This week Tennessee has increased its film fund and lowered the spending figure productions need to reach to qualify for support, while Colorado has doubled its cash rebate incentive programme to 20%. A new report from New York shows the state’s filming industries generated more than USD7 billion in direct spending in 2011 alone, its 30% tax credit being a major appeal.