A new location filming incentive programme put forward for Arizona faces stiff opposition locally. The state’s previous incentive expired in 2010 and wasn’t renewed so a Tucson senator is proposing a new 20% rebate with a USD70 million annual fund to attract projects like The Lone Ranger.
A top Disney production executive has voiced her support for New Mexico’s proposed ‘Breaking Bad’ TV filming incentive. The programme would increase the state’s TV location filming tax credit from 25% to 30%.
Australia has delayed a rise in its Location Offset and has instead launched a new filming incentive worth AUD20 million. Specific details are scarce but the new fund is designed to boost international interest in Australia as a filming location.
Western New York has lost the chance to host Kevin Costner’s new baseball feature Draft Day because Ohio offered better location filming incentives. Despite intense negotiations in New York, the production will make script changes and save about USD3.5 million filming in Cleveland.
Location filming in British Columbia in western Canada could take a hit when the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) returns in April 2013. Producers will likely have to pay tax on filming facilities ranging from set rentals to building materials at a time when the province is struggling to compete nationally.
Los Angeles has targeted a boost in TV location filming by waiving permit fees for pilots and shows shooting their first season. FilmLA describes the news as a good move towards more extensive changes.
A politician in New Hampshire in the north-east US is pushing for location filming tax credits to help attract more film productions. The state is one of the country’s few regions that doesn’t offer filming incentives of any kind and neighbouring Massachusetts is often used as a double.
Videogame adaptation Need for Speed – overseen by Steven Spielberg through DreamWorks - will get a filming incentive payment from Michigan to shoot scenes on location in Detroit. The production will spend just under USD5 million locally and get a rebate of about USD1.4 million.