New York Boasts of ‘Winter’s Tale’ Tax Credit Dividends
When an entertainment industry coalition presses California state lawmakers to expand its production incentives, they are likely to point to New York’s more generous tax credits, and the Empire State’s ability to recapture films and TV shows.
That point was underscored on Thursday, when the MPAA and Warner Bros. released figures they say show the impact of shooting “Winter’s Tale” entirely in New York.
According to their calculations, the production spent $15 million on hotels, car rentals, catering, hardware, dry cleaning, rental fees, permit fees and other expenses. Almost $27 million went to local wages to state residents, with some 2,902 local cast and crew and 1,989 extras hired.
The MPAA’s release was accompanied by a statement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said the movie is the “latest example” of how the production tax credit was “doing its part to establish New York as the place to be to make a major motion picture.”
In a fundraising visit to Los Angeles last month, Cuomo even pitched a crowd of industry donors on the idea of shooting in his state.
By contrast, California’s governor, Jerry Brown, has not said whether he would sign an expansion of California’s tax credit program, which is currently at $100 million per year.
The MPAA is among those pushing for such an expansion, and although supporters have not identified just how much more they are seeking, it is a good bet that they’ll point to New York, California’s frequent rival, and its more than $420 million per year in tax credits, as a way to nudge things along.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge and Councilman Mitch O’Farrell were on hand to give out the Made in Hollywood Awards, given to Oscar nominees that shoot in the area. But just the mere fact that there is an award given to a production for filming in Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world, is perhaps a testament to how much movie shoots have disappeared from the landscape.
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