Sonny, it's a little hard to trust your "pulse on Hollywood" when this same social circle was overwhelmingly pro Charlie Kirk and demonizing democrats for killing him.
Are you sure your social network represents what Hollywood thinks? The Hollywood outside of the usual right-wing outlets
Hey man, I get that you're glad Charlie Kirk is dead but it's *very weird* you keep bringing it up in completely unrelated posts, okay? I would give it a rest.
Technology has a role in offshore film production now that may not be reversible. Hollywood did itself in the eye with costs that just don't accrue elsewhere; the tax issue is just part of the story. There will in future be cross border productions that do allow much of the work to be done "at home" but it is unlikely ever to return to what it once was.
Great piece. I can’t speak to the details of subsidies and tax credits, but in Georgia they now have two major studios. One is near my hometown. That studio opened in the early nineties and produced the Walking Dead. The other is Tyler Perry’s enormous studio/entertainment complex on a former military base in Atlanta.
Before that, Burt Reynolds opened a studio there that ultimately failed. It produced Sharky’s Machine.
Point being, Georgia has focused on attracting movies for decades. It’s not just a gimmick that creates one-off freelance gigs.
It was interesting to me that when Cynthia Nixon ran a primary challenge against Andrew Cuomo a while ago, part of her platform involved cutting NY's tax breaks for film production. (Which, based on some conversations, may have cost her some votes among friends of mine who were largely sympathetic to her candidacy but also worked in film/tv or had family who did.)
It's also been very interesting to see some of that play out in my home state of NJ, as the decommissioned Army base Fort Monmouth is set to be home to a Netflix production facility. I believe some tax incentives helped get that deal made as well...
But there is an optics issue here, right? There seem to be unbelievable amounts of money out there for these studios to be bought and sold, but they need tax credits to produce content locally? Tax credits almost never pay for themselves, so would love to see some numbers on why taxpayers should take up the slack that the people with all of the money won't.
Those of us who work in the film business have been screaming for years about the lack of tax credits in California. I still can't explain why the state allowed the entire industry to become gutted before they took their heads out of their proverbial asses and provided meaningful credits. But alas, it's twenty years too late. First we shot in Georgia...then Vancouver...then Eastern Europe and South Africa. They were more than happy to take our money and jobs.
I would love some reporting on what happened behind the scenes in Sacramento. My only guess is they considered it a "rich people's problem" due to the absolute misconception that everyone who lives in LA and works in the business is somehow wealthy. The results have been tragic for many of the everyday workers who rely upon the industry to put food on the table.
I oppose almost all competitive tax credits, where one government competes with another to lower taxes the most. This type of scenario can affect almost any type of business. Which businesses are supposed to pay taxes? If you want the government to fund civilization, then people have to pay taxes. The studios likely pay very low property taxes based on the way that Proposition 13 acts for businesses that never change ownership. If studios agree to reset their base valuations to 2024 levels for property tax purposes, I'll be less opposed to business tax credits.
I think "rich people's problem" may be part of it. I have heard that the Teachers' union was very opposed to and lobbied agains tax credits for film/tv production for some reason.
In a word, no. The problem is a K-shaped economy combined with collapsing demographics. There just aren’t enough children and young adults with future spending power entering the market to move the industry forward. Some communities may slow the bleeding with support, but there’s no way around the macro picture- or median salaries.
I hated Forest Gump as of the last time I saw it 10 years ago - I wasn’t as quick as JVL to hate it the first time I saw it as a teenager - but there’s no denying it’s an incredibly well made film and I am excited to listen to this episode and read his book.
Staunch is an adjective meaning steadfast, loyal, or firm in principle, often describing a devoted supporter (e.g., "a staunch ally"). It implies unwavering, dependable commitment and can also mean strong, solid, or watertight. It is often confused with stanch, which is the verb used for stopping the flow of a liquid.
It’s been amazing how many locations abroad have been used to film some of the most popular American shows. Vancouver has always had a presence (Stargate SG-1 back in the day among others) but now places like Halifax have become popular spots (3 recent amazing shows From, We Were Liars, The Institute). Combine that with smaller countries like New Zealand offering massive incentives and the US needs to be competitive.
Despite that I don’t think we need a federal tax credit. Since these shows primarily benefit the image and economy of the region they take place and/or film in, leave it to the states to fight it out. Pennsylvania shelled out a lot of money for Mare of Easttown and Task (one of the most underrated shows) and it worked. Hawaii would’ve been the likely location for Lost due to its beauty but having its refundable tax credit made it an easy choice not to film in the Caribbean or South Pacific or other beach island.
There are more shows than ever now. You get amazing new shows across so many platforms constantly. There is still room for filming to be done in America. However, the bigger challenge is AI is already impacting these shows more and more whether directly or indirectly. And that is something that will be almost impossible to stop.
We could really expect that to happen. I no longer watch network news. I have cancelled a bunch of network subscriptions because their owners are disgusting. I am a faithful Bulwark follower and catch other Substackers on Netflix. We are having a great film festival in Watsonville. I can hardly wait to see “The Last Pachuco, Luis Valdez” in May. I am sorry that people are losing jobs.
The word is "stanch" – not subject to debate. "Staunch" is often often misused in its place, owing to similarity; is that what you aspire to? There are many fine style guides: Chicago, Webster's, NYT, NYPL, ... Lose yours. If I catch you using "begs the question" to mean "raises the question" or "chomping at the bit" to mean "champing at the bit" I'm leaving you.
the whole nine yards, whip that top off- bruce willis film-hilarious. A Peet is very talented, in many ways. Always have thought she was a real brain.
Sonny, it's a little hard to trust your "pulse on Hollywood" when this same social circle was overwhelmingly pro Charlie Kirk and demonizing democrats for killing him.
Are you sure your social network represents what Hollywood thinks? The Hollywood outside of the usual right-wing outlets
Hey man, I get that you're glad Charlie Kirk is dead but it's *very weird* you keep bringing it up in completely unrelated posts, okay? I would give it a rest.
excellent reply
Technology has a role in offshore film production now that may not be reversible. Hollywood did itself in the eye with costs that just don't accrue elsewhere; the tax issue is just part of the story. There will in future be cross border productions that do allow much of the work to be done "at home" but it is unlikely ever to return to what it once was.
Yeah, I think an underappreciated part of all this is that you simply don't have to, like, rent cameras or develop film stock anymore.
Amanda Peet’s performance was one of the finest I’ve seen in a very long time. Terrific performances all around.
She's very good and it'll be a shame if this just kind of disappears into the ether. I doubt it'll win her any awards but it should!
Great piece. I can’t speak to the details of subsidies and tax credits, but in Georgia they now have two major studios. One is near my hometown. That studio opened in the early nineties and produced the Walking Dead. The other is Tyler Perry’s enormous studio/entertainment complex on a former military base in Atlanta.
Before that, Burt Reynolds opened a studio there that ultimately failed. It produced Sharky’s Machine.
Point being, Georgia has focused on attracting movies for decades. It’s not just a gimmick that creates one-off freelance gigs.
well this is one reason why, theoretically, it should be a bipartisan, jobs-focused issue: there are film production jobs in red states! Lots of them!
Please! You mean "stanch the flow", not "staunch". I think we have a right to expect precision from professional writers.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/america-is-bleeding-film-and-tv-jobs-incentives-california-congress/comment/237841830?r=1io40&utm_medium=ios
It was interesting to me that when Cynthia Nixon ran a primary challenge against Andrew Cuomo a while ago, part of her platform involved cutting NY's tax breaks for film production. (Which, based on some conversations, may have cost her some votes among friends of mine who were largely sympathetic to her candidacy but also worked in film/tv or had family who did.)
It's also been very interesting to see some of that play out in my home state of NJ, as the decommissioned Army base Fort Monmouth is set to be home to a Netflix production facility. I believe some tax incentives helped get that deal made as well...
One recent article: https://tworivertimes.com/netflixpostsfirstjobsasfortmonmouthstudioprojectadvances/
The Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros is going to do nothing to help this situation.
What do you mean! They're going to make 30 movies a year! That's a thing that will definitely happen, just trust them!!
So I can vote yes to the proxy they sent me and it will all be good. ;)
But there is an optics issue here, right? There seem to be unbelievable amounts of money out there for these studios to be bought and sold, but they need tax credits to produce content locally? Tax credits almost never pay for themselves, so would love to see some numbers on why taxpayers should take up the slack that the people with all of the money won't.
Those of us who work in the film business have been screaming for years about the lack of tax credits in California. I still can't explain why the state allowed the entire industry to become gutted before they took their heads out of their proverbial asses and provided meaningful credits. But alas, it's twenty years too late. First we shot in Georgia...then Vancouver...then Eastern Europe and South Africa. They were more than happy to take our money and jobs.
I would love some reporting on what happened behind the scenes in Sacramento. My only guess is they considered it a "rich people's problem" due to the absolute misconception that everyone who lives in LA and works in the business is somehow wealthy. The results have been tragic for many of the everyday workers who rely upon the industry to put food on the table.
I oppose almost all competitive tax credits, where one government competes with another to lower taxes the most. This type of scenario can affect almost any type of business. Which businesses are supposed to pay taxes? If you want the government to fund civilization, then people have to pay taxes. The studios likely pay very low property taxes based on the way that Proposition 13 acts for businesses that never change ownership. If studios agree to reset their base valuations to 2024 levels for property tax purposes, I'll be less opposed to business tax credits.
I think "rich people's problem" may be part of it. I have heard that the Teachers' union was very opposed to and lobbied agains tax credits for film/tv production for some reason.
In a word, no. The problem is a K-shaped economy combined with collapsing demographics. There just aren’t enough children and young adults with future spending power entering the market to move the industry forward. Some communities may slow the bleeding with support, but there’s no way around the macro picture- or median salaries.
I hated Forest Gump as of the last time I saw it 10 years ago - I wasn’t as quick as JVL to hate it the first time I saw it as a teenager - but there’s no denying it’s an incredibly well made film and I am excited to listen to this episode and read his book.
It's just very high quality studio filmmaking!
One note on The Pitt: there's still two episodes left of season 2, it didn't wrap last night
Oh it wasn’t? (I’m an episode behind, was working on some bad intel.) Thanks.
Sorry, I replied to the wrong comment.
Staunch is an adjective meaning steadfast, loyal, or firm in principle, often describing a devoted supporter (e.g., "a staunch ally"). It implies unwavering, dependable commitment and can also mean strong, solid, or watertight. It is often confused with stanch, which is the verb used for stopping the flow of a liquid.
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster
that's always a good dictionary, I'm a little addicted to oxford, all dictionaries are fabulous
It’s been amazing how many locations abroad have been used to film some of the most popular American shows. Vancouver has always had a presence (Stargate SG-1 back in the day among others) but now places like Halifax have become popular spots (3 recent amazing shows From, We Were Liars, The Institute). Combine that with smaller countries like New Zealand offering massive incentives and the US needs to be competitive.
Despite that I don’t think we need a federal tax credit. Since these shows primarily benefit the image and economy of the region they take place and/or film in, leave it to the states to fight it out. Pennsylvania shelled out a lot of money for Mare of Easttown and Task (one of the most underrated shows) and it worked. Hawaii would’ve been the likely location for Lost due to its beauty but having its refundable tax credit made it an easy choice not to film in the Caribbean or South Pacific or other beach island.
There are more shows than ever now. You get amazing new shows across so many platforms constantly. There is still room for filming to be done in America. However, the bigger challenge is AI is already impacting these shows more and more whether directly or indirectly. And that is something that will be almost impossible to stop.
We could really expect that to happen. I no longer watch network news. I have cancelled a bunch of network subscriptions because their owners are disgusting. I am a faithful Bulwark follower and catch other Substackers on Netflix. We are having a great film festival in Watsonville. I can hardly wait to see “The Last Pachuco, Luis Valdez” in May. I am sorry that people are losing jobs.
Ooops I mean YouTube not Netflix
No one can "staunch" the flow, because that means to be steady, loyal and dependable. You could STANCH it though. And literally...stop the bleeding.
It's funny, we debated this in the Bulwark Slack and our Official Bulwark Style Guide here is "staunch."
The word is "stanch" – not subject to debate. "Staunch" is often often misused in its place, owing to similarity; is that what you aspire to? There are many fine style guides: Chicago, Webster's, NYT, NYPL, ... Lose yours. If I catch you using "begs the question" to mean "raises the question" or "chomping at the bit" to mean "champing at the bit" I'm leaving you.
They’re wrong. Look it up.
Film LA is engaged in sabotage discouraging film production from shooting in LA unless confined to a stage.