PRODUCTION INCENTIVES

• Tools for 2010
• What's New at EP?
• Updates by Jurisdiction
• Maximize Your Incentives with EP
• Upcoming Appearances

*NEW* The Essential Guide to U.S. & International Production Incentives, 2010, 1st Edition, edited by Joseph Chianese, Marco Cordova, and Barbara Rosenfeld, is now available. Contact our group to order your copy at no charge.

Monthly Production Incentives Email Updates Archive of previous newsletters is now available. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Follow the EP Production Incentives Group on Twitter for instant updates on incentives and events at www.twitter.com/filmincentives.

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Website and Comparison Tool
Visit www.epincentivesolutions.com for the most up-to-date incentives information, including a new extensive glossary covering types of incentives, eligibility criteria, benefit limits, and other key issues to consider. Be sure to check out the Comparison Tool that you can use to compare incentives in up to three different jurisdictions.

EPPS Preferred Vendor List
Preferred vendor lists are now available for EPPS Purchasing, Inc., which provides production equipment and supplies, at competitive rates, in certain states to help maximize your production incentives. Please contact Marco Cordova at 818.955.6278 regarding our EPPS Purchasing, Inc., services.

Want to be a preferred EPPS Purchasing, Inc., vendor? Please contact Mary Ann McBride at 412.956.7325 for more information.

EP Incentive Solutions
Please contact EP's production incentives specialists by email or by phone at 818.955.6216 if you have any questions regarding your next production. We can help you budget your next production and find the most beneficial incentives at no charge. We also provide fee-based services for production incentives administration, finance facilitation, corporate-structure planning, and agreed-upon consulting projects. Visit our Services section for more information and contact information for our EP Incentive Solutions specialists.

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U.S. Updates
For more information on incentives in each state, visit the U.S. Overview on our website and click on the state of interest.

CALIFORNIA - Sacramento
Mayor Kevin Johnson launched an initiative "For Art's Sake," last summer to cultivate more consistent local film production. The chairman of the Mayor's committee will unveil its preliminary recommendations, including financial incentives to supplement or substitute for state tax credits. (See The Sacramento Bee.)

FLORIDA
SB 1430, which revises the film incentive, was referred to Committee. Governor Crist outlined his budget for 2010-2011, including $15 million for the film and entertainment industry (see Washington County News).

GEORGIA
The Georgia Department of Revenue issued revised rules regarding the definition of a "Georgia vendor" for purposes of the tax credit for film, video, and digital production. We have received written confirmation from the Department of Revenue that those revisions will NOT be retroactive, but will apply prospectively from January 7, 2010.

IOWA
Legislation has been introduced to repeal the film incentive (SF 2118) or to suspend registration of new projects (SF 2319). In addition, the Attorney General's Office has charged a number of filmmakers and the former film office manager with criminal conduct. (See the Des Moines Register and The Hawk Eye).

MARYLAND
SB 98 and SB 976, respectively, propose to convert the film tax rebate to a 30% or 28% refundable income tax credit with a minimum spend of $500,000, and a $1 million cap on compensation (see Frederick News Post).

MASSACHUSETTS
The local industry strongly opposes the $50 million annual cap on incentives proposed in Governor Patrick's 2010-2011 budget (see Wicked Local, Gloucester Daily Times 1-30-2010, Gloucester Daily Times 2-16-2010, and The Salem News).

It is important for filmmakers accessing the credit to comply with the new requirements for withholding on loan-outs and independent contractors (see Department of Revenue statement).

MICHIGAN
As part of the budget process, Governor Granholm submits a report detailing all tax breaks given up to the state. Included in that list for her next budget is an increase from $116 million to $155 million for the "movie tax credit." (See The Michigan Messenger and Page 12 of the Summary of Tax Expenditures report.)

NEBRASKA
Legislation (LB1073 and LB1074) that was introduced to establish a film production incentive from 17% to 22%, capped at $5 million per year, is considered too expensive and"needs more work" (see Omaha World-Herald).

NEW MEXICO
SB 235 has been introduced to impose a project cap on the film production tax credit, effective for expenditures incurred on or after July 1, 2010. The legislation includes a $2 million project cap for direct production expenditures and a $2 million project cap for postproduction expenditures. Opposition to the bill is strong. (See New Mexico Business Weekly, Santa Fe New Mexican, New Mexico Independent2-2-2010, and New Mexico Independent 2-4-2010.)

VERMONT
Governor Jim Douglas has included the Film Commission in a long list of state boards and commissions to be eliminated. These eliminations are expected to save the state about $700,000. (See AP on Google.)

VIRGINIA
Celebrities joined the Lt. Governor and the Film Office to pitch approval for the proposed 15% to 20% tax credit (HB 861, with bonuses for local and first-time hires) and 15% to 20% grant legislation (SB 257). The bills are now pending in the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee, respectively. (See Virginia Business, WHSV-ABC, and Daily Progress.)

International Updates

For more information on incentives around the world, visit the International Overview page on our website and click on the region or country of interest.

BULGARIA ScreenDaily reports that the Government has proposed a 30% rebate on film and TV production costs. The proposal is subject to EU approval, but a 90-day restrospective clause is expected to be applied. (See Screen Daily -- subscription required to view.)

CANADA - Alberta The new budget will contain a 15% reduction in the Film Development Program funding.The funds available for film and TV production will drop to C$16,975,000. (See Calgary Herald.)

CANADA - British Columbia
The Government announced its proposal to add an Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit; increase the Production Services Tax Credit to 33 %; increase the Digital Animation or Visual Effects (DAVE) Tax Credit to 17.5 %; and raise the cap on labor expenditures to 60% of production costs.The proposed tax credit increases will apply to those productions commencing principal photography after February 28, 2010. (See The Hollywood Reporter and Press Release.)

CANADA - Quebec
The Minister of Finance announced a change to the Quebec special effects and animation tax credit. It will now be calculated at 20% of qualified labor costs, up from 5% of qualified spend. The change will apply retroactively to June 12, 2009. (See Press Release and Information Bulletin.)

CZECH REPUBLIC
The 20% tax rebate on films shot in the Czech Republic is expected to come to fruition next month. (See Variety.)

SOUTH AFRICA
The Government has set aside an additional R3.6 billion for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).The overall allocation for industrial incentives, including the film incentive, would be R2.8 billion in 2010-2011, R3.3 billion in 2011-2012 and R3.7 billion in 2012-2013. (See Engineering News.)

UNITED KINGDOM
The House of Lords' report into the future of the UK film industry has recommended raising the level of tax relief available to low-budget films (£5 million or less) from 20% to 30%.(See Screen Daily -- subscription required to view.)

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Entertainment Partners has purchased Workers' Compensation policies from local brokers throughout the United States to help maximize your production incentives! Listed below are those production incentives states where EP currently has a local policy. Florida
Hawaii
Illinois
Louisiana
Mississippi
New Jersey
New Mexico
Pennsylvania
Texas

More policies to be announced soon!


Entertainment Partners has an office in each of the following states to help maximize your production incentives (more to open soon!):

California
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia *
Illinois
Louisiana **
Michigan ***
Massachusetts
New Mexico ****
New York
Pennsylvania *****
South Carolina
Utah




* EP and EPPS Purchasing, Inc., have a full-time Account Representative in Georgia to help maximize your production incentives benefits. Please contact Karen Sortor at 678.690.8469 for more information regarding our services in Georgia.

** EP and EPPS Purchasing, Inc. have full-time employees working in our Jefferson Parish office to help maximize your production incentives. Please contact Ryan Broussard at 504.296.2502 for more information regarding our services in Louisiana.

*** EP and EPPS Purchasing, Inc. have an office at The Ford Building in Detroit to help maximize your production incentives. Please contact Blane Hailemichael at 313.573.0018 for more information regarding our services in Michigan.

**** EP and EPPS Purchasing, Inc., have an office at Albuquerque Studios. EP provides super loan-out services in New Mexico to help maximize your production incentives. For more information contact the EP Production Incentives Group.

***** EP and EPPS Purchasing, Inc., have a full-time Account Representative in Pennsylvania to help maximize your production incentive benefits. Please contact Mary Ann McBride at 412.956.7325 for more information regarding our services in Pennsylvania.

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ATLAS International Film & TV Finance Summit
Luxe Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
March 8 - 9, 2010
Joseph Chianese will be moderating the panel entitled "Practical Considerations and Conversations with Filmmakers Regarding Assessing Film Incentives in the U.S."

411 Publishing Webinar Series
March 24, 2010
This is the next installment of the webinar series moderated by Joseph Chianese. The series is presented by 411 Publishing and Variety.com in partnership with the Producers Guild of America. More details to be announced.

Please visit the Happenings section of our website for more information on upcoming events as it becomes available.

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