Roll credits on film tax rebate?

Monday, March 30, 2009 - MiBiz

WEST MICHIGAN - Lured to Michigan last year by promises of lucrative tax incentives, film production companies now worry they might not see the tax rebate they were promised.

The Department of Treasury says "not to worry," but that hasn’t stopped the companies from questioning whether they’ll get their refund checks or not, according to Karl Butterer, who heads the entertainment law division at Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge.

The way legislation works, a film production company has to first be qualified by the state. Once qualified, they must record the money spent on direct production expenditures in a given year and obtain a post-production certificate from Treasury, then file a tax return and wait for the refund. Treasury has three to four weeks to send the rebate.

http://www.mibiz.com/absolutenm/templates/template5.aspx?articleid=15104&zoneid=169

Helpers sought for Kalamazoo animation festival

With more than 70 events planned so far for the fifth Kalamazoo Animation Festival International, Kalamazoo Valley Community College is looking for a cadre of faculty, staff, students and residents to serve as volunteers and help make the four-day event in downtown Kalamazoo a success.

Slated for May 14-17, the festival has attracted 555 submissions of animation from 42 countries in the competition for $15,000 in prize money. The finalists will be viewable in a series of screenings during the festival, while professional animators from the major production studios and networks will be leading workshops and seminars.

*This is a great opportunity for any person interested in animation, film or any aspect of creative work,* says Anna Barnhart, the festival*s volunteer coordinator. *Volunteers will witness a major industry event taking shape as well as meet many big players in the expanding field of animation.*

Those who volunteer will act as greeters, runners, ticket takers, workshop monitors, gallery guides, and special-event helpers, Barnhart said. They will receive a free ticket to attend a seminar, screening or panel discussion for each four hours that they work.

Students must be at least 16 to become a volunteer. The four-hour time slots on that Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are 8 a.m. to noon, noon to 4 p.m., 4 to 8 p.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight.

Orientation sessions in the college's Anna Whitten Hall are scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Monday, May 4, at the same time. The deadline to sign up as volunteer is April 20.

For more information and an application form, visit: www.gokafi.com, or contact Barnhart or Nikki Unterkircher at kafi@kvcc.edu, or by phone at (269) 373-7934.

Regional Executive Director of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to Speak in Grand Rapids on April 6

Monday, April 6, 2009, 7 - 9pm
Doors open at 6:30pm

If you have wondered how to become a SAG member, negotiate with SAG to produce a film, or why you should even wonder about SAG at all, put this night on your calendar to get the answers!

Marcia Fishman, SAG Executive Director of Detroit and Philadelphia Branches (covering Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware and south Jersey) wants to meet you and build SAG in West Michigan!

She will be speaking on the following topics:

· Positive reasons for a relationship between film community of West Michigan and Screen Actors Guild

· The implications of west Michigan actors becoming SAG members

· What SAG contracts are available to west Michigan producers, i.e. low budget, new media, short, student (most of which include little to deferred payment options)?

· Concerns of Hollywood and New York productions in an area with little or no SAG membership, and how concerns can be handled.

Followed by general Q & A.

Location: Applied Technology Center, Rooms 118/120, Ferris Grand Rapids Campus, 151 Fountain NE, corner of Fountain and Ransom Streets, Downtown Grand Rapids

FREE to Members of West Michigan Film Video Alliance (WMFVA) or $10 for non-members (students $5 w/ valid ID)

www.WMFVA.org

Don't Cap Movie Tax Breaks Unless You Want to Kill the New Industry Before It Takes Hold

BY MITCH ALBOM • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • March 29, 2009

If you can name one other Michigan business that grew from $2 million to around $125 million last year -- in the worst economy since the Depression -- I'll shut up.

If you can name one other Michigan business that, in its baby stages, elicited plans for $140 million in new studio investments, I'll keep quiet.

If you can name one other Michigan business that created this much excitement and this many people scurrying to learn new skills, I'll stand down.

But if you can't, then maybe you should be the one to cool your jets.

I'm talking about Michigan's movie business.

And I'm talking to state Sen. Nancy Cassis.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903290427

An odd couple? Detroit Hip Hop and Michigan Film

The Examiner | March 27, 2009

Abnormal. Strange. Weird. Those are terms that come to mind when someone compares oddities. Contrasting the Detroit Hip Hop scene with the Michigan Film industry, and those terms seem extreme. Without deep analysis, the two essentially are like peanut butter and jelly. Music and film are definitely separate entities within their own right, but when was the last time you watched a film without a musical soundtrack? To separate music and film is, as Oran "Juice" Jones put it, “like cornflake without da milk!” Okay, so that is extreme but we know all too well how music video revolutionized the way we look at our favorite stars—good or bad.

Today’s music is fueled by imagery depending on which side is exposed: flossy, struggling, conscious, party, grimy…the list goes on. Now that many are mobilized— whether it is with the equipment or with the knowledge and know-how, artists are engaging in visual art forms that showcase their musical talent. This phenomenon has penetrated the musical landscape beyond the Detroit classics, “The Scene ”, or “The New Dance Show ”. Nowadays you can catch hot shows such as the Kori's Corner, Al Nuke's Nuke at Night, or the highly anticipated newcomer, “The Mr. CliffNote Show ”.

http://www.examiner.com/x-5329-Detroit-HipHop-Examiner~y2009m3d27-An-odd-couple-Detroit-Hip-Hop-and-Michigan-Film

State Senate debates reduction in film industry tax credits

By Chris Killian 3/27/09 3:14 PM
Michigan is the most generous state in the nation when it comes to providing tax incentives to movie production companies looking for places to shoot films.

But the state’s 42 percent tax break, established in 2008, could be reduced under two bills being debated in the state Senate.

According to the Capital News Service, under the measures, the tax break would be reduced to 35 percent. Also, tax credits would be capped at $50 million per year for all films produced in Michigan.

“The money we give out for film tax credit is money that could’ve gone to universities, parks, the Great Lakes, prisoner maintenance or other publicly funded things,” Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, a co-sponsor of the measures, told the news service.

http://michiganmessenger.com/15637/state-senate-debates-reduction-in-film-industry-tax-credits

Where is Michael Moore? Not at the Michigan Film Office meeting

By Sue White | The Saginaw News | March 27, 2009

Michael Moore didn't show up.

I had many reasons to look forward to the Michigan Film Office's meeting with its advisory council, held March 19 at Saginaw's Temple Theatre, and catching up with Moore, a council member, was one of them.

Years ago, before he started making films, we worked together on a few projects. The night I remember best was spent at a Chinese restaurant with Amanda McBroom, who wrote the song "The Rose," and Tom Chapin, the late Harry Chapin's brother.

Moore invited me to the "Roger and Me" premiere, and to both of talk-show host Phil Donahue's visits to Flint -- didn't I tell you it was a long time ago? Through it all, Moore was always just a call or two away.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/saginaw/index.ssf/2009/03/where_is_michael_moore_not_at.html

Women in Film & Television Membership Drive

Michigan Film Production Opportunities
Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Tango’s Restaurant -Westin Hotel

Ladies, this is your opportunity to join Detroit WIFTV (Michigan’s Chapter) and learn about the organization, its benefits and join up. It’s not about the numbers it’s about creating and maintaining a presence in this industry.

Michigan is finally back on the map with the great incentives and Hollywood knocking down our door, don’t miss your chance to be a part of this growing industry. Learn about education, resources, events and why you should be a member.

This event is free. Appetizers 6-7p *Bring your coupon WIFTV flyer and take 15% off Membership Fees. You MUST RSVP- detwiftv@gmail.com (Name & Email)

Tango’s Restaurant is located in the Westin Hotel, 1500 Town Center Drive, Southfield, MI.

http://www.thedetroiter.com/v3/2009/03/women-in-film-television-membership-drive/

Want to be in a movie? Now's your chance

By: Joe Borlik | CM Life (Central Michigan University) | March 25, 2009

Mount Pleasant resident Jim McBryde will never forget his role in two Star Wars movies.

McBryde sat in Dex's Diner in "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" and played Ulfor Bombaasa, a patron in the Galaxies Opera House in "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."

"It was a really great experience," he said. "I had an opportunity not a lot of people will get."

It was something McBryde did for fun - he even kept his paychecks as souvenirs.

http://media.www.cm-life.com/media/storage/paper906/news/2009/03/25/Lifeline/Want-To.Be.In.A.Movie.Nows.Your.Chance-3681505.shtml

Some in Mich. Senate want to cap film incentives

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN | Associated Press Writer | March 25, 2009

LANSING, Mich. - Some state senators want to cap the tax incentives Michigan offers to moviemakers and require that more workers hired by them be from Michigan.

Legislation introduced Wednesday would reduce Michigan's refundable movie tax credit, now 40 percent to 42 percent, down to 35 percent of the amount of a production company's qualified expenditures that are incurred in producing a motion picture or other media entertainment project in Michigan.

The measures would limit the amount of credits to $50 million a year and expand a credit for building permanent facilities, such as sound stages, to 30 percent rather than 25 percent. They also would add a credit that would be given for producing national advertisements in Michigan that cost at least $250,000.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-filmcredits,0,7596526.story

Proposed Cap on Film Incentives

The Associated Press | March 25, 2009

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Some state senators want to cap the tax
incentives Michigan offers to moviemakers.

Legislation introduced Wednesday would reduce Michigan’s
refundable movie tax credit from 42 percent to 35 percent, limit
the amount of credits to $50 million a year and increase another
credit.

Some Republicans proposed similar measures last year but didn’t
get far. A Democratic senator is concerned the state can’t afford
the incentives while facing budget problems.

The Senate’s GOP majority leader says he isn’t interested in
limiting tax credits if they’re stimulating the economy.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and others also say the tax breaks are
working very well.

Filming expenditures went from $2 million to more than $100
million a year after the law was signed.

http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/03/25/proposed-cap-on-film-incentives/

Filmmaker may be coming back

WOOD TV8 | March 25, 2009

Its been almost a year since Governor Granholm signed the state’s film incentives into law. A panel discussion today in Grand Rapids focused on the benefits of those tax incentives for Michigan’s film industry.

Four industry officials discussed the history and the future of the state’s tax breaks that brought 35 projects, 28-hundred jobs and 25-million dollars to the state last year.

Nearly a year into the incentives, Ken Droz from the Michigan Film Office says ”ideally, we’d like to think the program can run its course and be allowed to have time to breathe and to mature and for the entire industry to gets its legs before any major changes are being done to it.”

The panelists agreed that while the state is staying ahead of other states like New Mexico and Louisiana, more work has to be done to build infrastructure and train workers.

Dori DePree, Head of Education Outreach for TicTock Studios says that Michigan’s blue collar work force can be trained to fill the jobs “so its not that we’re training people to do new things, its just saying this is what you’ve already done, this is what you know how to do, and hopefully you love to do, you can do this on a film as well.”

—

Ken Droz from the Michigan Film Office says a “major filmmaker who came last year is thinking about coming again next year”.

Clint Eastwood?? Drew Barrymore?? No further comments or details were offered.

That news today out of a panel discussion on tax incentives and the Michigan Film Industry.

http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/03/25/filmmaker-may-be-coming-back/

Will The Stars Still Come Out In Michigan?

WLNS TV | March 25, 2009


State Senator Nancy Cassis, R - Novi: "It's all about jobs. And we want to see permanent jobs here."

Some state senators want to cut the tax incentives for movie makers coming to Michigan.

The incentives have been in place for nearly a year, and they're credited with bringing dozens of film makers and millions of dollars into the state.

But some lawmakers say those tax credits are too costly and don't create permanent jobs.

Ann Emmerich tells us what they're proposing.

http://www.wlns.com/global/story.asp?s=10071254

Some state senators want to limit tax incentives for moviemakers

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN • Associated Press • March 25, 2009

Some state senators want to cap the tax incentives Michigan offers to moviemakers and require that more workers hired by them be from Michigan.

Legislation introduced today would reduce Michigan’s refundable movie tax credit, now 40% to 42%, down to 35% of the amount of a production company’s qualified expenditures that are incurred in producing a motion picture or other media entertainment project in Michigan.

The measures would limit the amount of credits to $50 million a year and expand a credit for building permanent facilities, such as sound stages, to 30% rather than 25%. They also would add a credit that would be given for producing national advertisements in Michigan that cost at least $250,000.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090325/NEWS15/90325080

Editorial: See ya in the movies

By Paula J. Holmes-Greeley | March 22, 2009

West Michigan is well cast as a site for Michigan's budding film industry.

The lakes, farmland and beaches offer the beauty of a leading lady while the urban centers are perfect action figures.

The USS Silversides, already a movie star; LST-393, Lake Express ferry, Michigan's Adventure, Muskegon County Airport and Frauenthal Theater all have potential for cameo appearances along with our numerous historic lighthouses and grand lumber baron homes.

http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/03/editorial_see_ya_in_the_movies.html

Different organizations disagree

By Terry Camp
MID-MICHIGAN (WJRT)

No doubt about it, big-time movie stars are coming to Michigan.

Within recent months, Clint Eastwood, Drew Barrymore and George Clooney have come to the state.

But are the tax credits given to movie makers to entice them to our state really helping the economy, or just a neat special effect?

The Michigan Film Office Advisory Council held its bi-monthly meeting in Saginaw, and while they were here, they had to fend off some criticism from a conservative research institute.

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=6718894

Film festival to showcase region's talent

By JESSE DUNSMORE | Times Herald |

Richard DeShon Jr., co-owner of local talent agency The Thespis Group, believes there are plenty of filmmakers in Michigan, and he wants them to come to Port Huron.

The Thespis Group is organizing the first Blue Water Film Festival, a showcase of movies put together by Michigan and Sarnia residents -- and no one else.

"We want to promote Michigan (and) give the individuals a chance who otherwise wouldn't think they'd have a chance of winning," DeShon said. "Otherwise, you'd have people from New York or California submitting films and this is what they do for a living, as opposed to individuals coming out of college, coming out of high school, even."

http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20090319/NEWS01/903190313/1002

MSU study finds film industry big hit in Michigan

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University study has found that the state of Michigan’s law providing tax credits for film production companies that shoot their movies in Michigan is a big-time hit.

The study, conducted by MSU’s Center for Economic Analysis, found that in 2008, 32 film productions were completed, generating more than $65 million in spending and creating more than 2,700 jobs. And this was just in the eight months since the law was enacted in April of 2008.

“It’s amazing how much activity we had in such a short period of time,” said Steven Miller, CEA director and director of the study. “Many of these projects had already established they were going somewhere else, but quickly changed gears and moved to Michigan when they learned of the tax incentives.”

http://news.msu.edu/story/6082/

Detroit news briefs: Panel to feature filmmaker, actors

Compiled by Joe Rossiter and other Free Press staff • March 18, 2009

Panel to feature filmmaker, actors

Filmmaker-actor Lonette McKee and Philip Johnson, star of the Lifetime film "America," parts of which were shot in Detroit, are to participate in a panel discussion Thursday at the Detroit Film Office's first educational symposium on Michigan's growing film industry.

The event is to be from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers Road.

The symposium is cosponsored by the film office and the city's Small Business Detroit Microloan Program. The symposium is designed to educate residents and small-business owners in the city on how to prepare for opportunities in the Michigan film industry.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090318/NEWS01/903180326/1003/NEWS/Detroit+news+briefs++Panel+to+feature+filmmaker++actors

“Fahrenheit 9/11” & "Bowling for Columbine” Co-Producer Jeff Gibbs to Speak March 19 in Grand Rapids

West Michigan Film Video Alliance (WMFVA) presents producer Jeff Gibbs, co-producer and composer for “Fahrenheit 9/11” for a 2-hour seminar on Thursday, March 19 at the Applied Technology Center Auditorium, Ferris Campus (151 Fountain NE, corner of Fountain and Ransom Streets, Downtown Grand Rapids).

Jeff will discuss elements that every filmmaker should consider, by showing clips from some of the films he has worked on, including: “Fahrenheit 9/11” “Bowling for Columbine” “Sharkwater” “Shut Up and Sing” (Dixie Chicks) “Trouble the Water” (Current Oscar nominee by “Fahrenheit” producers)

Doors open at 6:30pm. Seminar time is 7-9pm. Open to the public. FREE for WMFVA members ($10 for non-members, $5 for students with valid ID). Details www.wmfva.org