Denouement: Your Multiplexes Sure Are Pittsburgh-y Lately

Will Leitch
·Editor

I have done my best to avoid -- and try not to cover on this here site, mostly -- any of the "spoilers" that have surfaced from the various sets of "The Dark Knight Rises." All I really know is that Tom Hardy is scary-looking and that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is in it. It's that last one -- considering his various off-the-field exploits -- that gets me. I know that if Roethlisberger shows up in the film, one of the four I'm looking forward to most over the next two years, it's gonna be a downer for me. That guy's a creep.

(By the way, not that you were wondering, but the four movies are Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises," Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master," Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" and Woody Allen's "Bop Decameron." Aren't you sorry you asked? Oh, you didn't ask.)

So, why is Ben Roethlisberger (maybe) in "The Dark Knight Rises?" Because Nolan needed a football stadium to shoot in, and there was Heinz Field, nearby. Because he was filming in Pittsburgh. Like everyone.

Off the top of my head, here are the movies I have seen in the last year -- or have seen previews for that are coming out in the next year -- that are filmed primarily in Pittsburgh:

*** "Abduction."
*** "The Dark Knight Rises."
*** "I Am Number Four."
*** "Love and Other Drugs."
*** "The Next Three Days."
*** "The Road."
*** "Unstoppable."
*** "Warrior."

So, Pittsburgh's pretty amazing, right? Look at all these huge Hollywood productions looking to film in Pittsburgh. Must be the most photogenic place on earth.

No offense to Pittsburgh -- a lovely city, actually, with one of the nicest baseball stadiums I've ever seen -- but movie stars aren't coming for the Yuengling, as outstanding a beer as Yuengling is. They're there for the tax breaks your city is giving them, the most outstanding tax breaks of any location this side of Toronto. (And other popular location, Louisiana.) Pittsburgh magazine surveyed the damage earlier this year:

Pennsylvania's tax-incentive program for filmmakers, launched in 2004, was one of the first in the nation. And with the addition of new legislation in 2007, it's become one of the country's most competitive, according to Keezer. It's the main reason that the region is currently so popular with Hollywood (Pittsburgh is one of the top two production centers in the state). Here's how it works: Producers apply in advance, committing to spending 60 percent of their budget on eligible purchases here in Pennsylvania. They pay taxes—sales, payroll and so on (no tax exemptions)—while working here and get no money upfront.

The idea -- and Pittsburgh magazine certainly buys this idea -- is that the tax incentives given to the studios and producers (essentially, handing them money) is more than made up for by the local jobs the productions create and an increase in tourism. This certainly sounds great in theory, but it also sounds great when sports owners claim building a huge new stadium with public funds is nothing but a boon for local economies. This is not true.

Before he left Politico, legendary columnist Michael Kinsley nailed down just what's so ultimately damaging in giving all these tax breaks to Hollywood studios and producers, particularly the funny math studios (and states) use to justify the expenditures.

[States have been] counting the allowances film crews are paid for expenses as a benefit to the state and then counting the same money again when it is spent. Or assuming without explanation that the average film crew member makes $82,400 a year, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics sets that figure at $35,000. The most outrageous double counting, of course, is telling one state after another that it can bring in billions by enticing the same movies away from other states.

That's to say: You're seeing lots of movies made in Pittsburgh right now because Pittsburgh hasn't quite realized how much money it's going to lose through its massive tax incentives. When it does, they'll provide fewer incentives ... and studios will just go find some other sucker city, desperate for the exposure, the glitz and the income "possibilities," and make their movies there. St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland ... your turns are coming. Step right up. Give your tax dollars away to massive publicly traded megacorportations. In a couple of years, Taylor Lautner could be be wearing an Ozzie Smith jersey in his movie rather than a Roberto Clemente jersey. Goodie.

Lights, camera, cut on Hollywood subsidies [Politico]
Is Pittsburgh The New Hollywood? [Pittsburgh Magazine]