The calendar isn’t the only thing that is changing this next week. Across North America tax credit legislation for several key states and territories is changing or ending entirely!
Not to worry, turn to CreditScoutApp in the new year for the most updated information on which states have the strongest incentive programs. We had the pleasure of having a staff member from the Michigan film office explain their new program for 2012 and beyond to us this week.
You could be utterly confused by the legislation as written out below! Or have it taken care of for you by signing up for a CreditScout account.
Michigan, one of the biggest players of the past few years has cut its program dramatically to the following levels:
To be eligible to apply for funding, the eligible production company shall have direct production expenditures, Michigan personnel expenditures, or a combination of direct production expenditures and Michigan personnel expenditures, of $100,000.00 or more.
For state certified qualified production expenditures after September 30, 2011, an agreement under this section shall provide for funding equal to the sum of the following:
(i) 27% of direct production expenditures. (ii) Michigan personnel expenditures as follows: (A) 32% after September 30, 2011 and before January 1, 2015. (B) 27% after December 31, 2014. (iii) Crew personnel expenditures as follows: (A) 25% after September 30, 2011 and before January 1, 2013. (B) 20% after December 31, 2012 and before January 1, 2014. (C) 15% after December 31, 2013 and before January 1, 2015. (D) 10% after December 31, 2014. (iv) Qualified personnel expenditures as follows: (A) 27% after September 30, 2011 and before January 1, 2015. (B) 12% after December 31, 2014.
(v) In addition to the expenditures described in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv), 3% of direct production expenditures and Michigan personnel expenditures at a qualified facility or postproduction facility for a qualified production produced at the facility.
(e) Payments and compensation for all producers of a qualified production residing in this state shall not exceed 10% of the direct production expenditures and Michigan personnel expenditures for the qualified production.
(f) Payments and compensation for all producers of a qualified production who are not residents of this state shall not exceed 5% of the direct production expenditures and Michigan personnel expenditures for the qualified production.
And that’s just one state! Check out our app and our Incentive Directory for the most up to date information!
At least the spectacular Michigan locations haven’t changed…
Still full of the holiday spirit and just in time for Sundance, CreditScout announces a contest for filmmakers planning on shooting feature films in their own home state.
Every director or producer dreams of being able to take their film on the road to a series of dream locations in their home city or state they’ve kept secret for years. In the age of soft money and statewide film tax incentives, shooting at home never looked so good.
Philadelphia at sunset
Over the month of January the CreditScoutApp team will be accepting submissions for its Hometown Filmmakers Lab, ultimately selecting three films which it will help to budget, advise and prep for production using film tax incentives via its powerful credit estimating application. Other filmmakers will be eligible for a slew of prizes including free memberships to the App for use on their films.
“One of the best filmmaking experiences I ever had was when I invited dozens of friends and colleagues from New York to invade my quiet hometown of Conshohocken, PA in 2008 for my film For All Mankind,” says Producer and CreditScoutApp creator Dan Clifton. “Many of our users are trying to find ways in this new economic reality to get their films made their way and we’re trying to support that.”
Yes, this a real statue
Filmmakers are required to submit a synopsis of their film, a business plan (detailing shooting locations and desired tax credit amounts), crew bios and a Director’s statement.
To enter - simply send the preceding materials to info@creditscoutapp.com
Finalists will be unveiled in March, 2012.
Happy Scouting!
How a Film Producer uses CreditScoutApp
In a matter of minutes I’m able to get deadly accurate tax credit estimates that I can show an investor or financier.
My goal: Take a non-LA budget (one that assumes some travel and living expenses) and figure out which other state or province in the US and Canada could be a good option (fiscally) to shoot in.
I’m able to take a budget that is just under $3 million and figure out how to get between 15-25% of my budget back in rebates in less than 15 minutes!
We get asked this sort of question all the time. Most of the people who engage with CreditScout or its budgeting service are trying to put together films in the $1-3 million range and with revenue being what it is these days, this is a great target to aim for.
But where do you shoot? Conventional wisdom says that Los Angeles still provides a compelling package of locations because of its amazing infrastructure and wide crew base. But how much would you be saving if you packed things up and went to, say Louisiana?
Well - it is all relative but here are some facts.
1.) Doing a $2 million movie in another state may mean that you are really making a $2.4 million movie for the price of $2 million.
2.) The price of going to that state may or may not outweigh the cost of adding Travel + Living. Putting up five cast full time along with your the rest of your crew can be mighty costly and may nullify all of the tax incentive gains made along the way.
3.) Make sure the schedule and budget are realistic. Skewing either the budget or tax credit estimate (or both)) to lure people into a false situation is just wrong, and probably criminal. If you don’t have a budget - we can help.
http://www.creditscoutapp.com/custom-budget
4.) If you have main cast (more than 3 or 4) that NEED to be from LA don’t bother bringing them out to another state on this level of a film unless absolutely necessary.That will cost you and arm and a leg. If its an LA based movie with lots of Cameos, shoot it domestically. If it is not location dependent then scout away!
Tonight, visit the Showbiz Store and Cafe in Los Angeles to hear Producer Dan Clifton speak about tax incentives and closing the equity gap.
Creating an accurate, professional film budget is one of the most arduous tasks in pre-production.
Budgets are often dozens of pages long and take into consideration everything from unions to different formats, deliverables and scope of production. If you’d like to show a financier what tax credits your film is eligible for but don’t have a budget, let the CreditScout team create one for you.
Our team of Line Producers and consultants have built budgets for Micro-Budget features and Studio Pictures alike. We keep it simple.
Here’s how it works:
1.) Email us your script, a brief description of your Above-The-Line and post deliverable commits. If none to date, that’s fine.
2.) Tell us how much you’d like the film’s total budget to be. If you don’t know yet, our team can suggest a range based on your materials.
3.) Our team will create a detailed budget specific to your film and deliver it you in pdf, Excel as well in EP, Showbiz or Gorilla Budgeting formats.
4.) For each budget, we charge $150 per $1 million in budget level (minimum $150 per budget.) If your budget is $3 million, we charge $450.
In addition, with each budget purchased you’ll get a month of CreditScout free so you’ll be able to get estimates immediately.
Visit our Plans and Pricing Page or email budgets@creditscoutapp.com for more info!
In November CreditScout launched its groundbreaking Location Heat Map metric, a great tool for filmmakers to learn more about where film production is most desirable in the United States.
Its almost December (I know, already!) which means the ratings will be updated in a few days.
So what does go into this Location Heat Map anyway?
The Metric is based on four different criteria:
1.) How many films are shooting, in prep or are considering shooting in each state
2.) Which states have high film tax credit rates AND well funded programs
3.) Which states have funds left in their coffers for the current fiscal year
4.) Which states are considering altering/eliminating tax credit legislation
All of these factors go into deciding which of the states meet our red hot distinction (shared by NM, LA, AL, GA, NC, NY, CT and MA) and which have cooled off a little.
Stay Tuned for updates in December!
The latest tax credit results for a $1.1 million indie film we’re cooking up at Onset Films. Where will we shoot? Time will tell!
On Monday we’re launching our Location Heat Map, a new real-time graphic that calculates the desirability for film production in each U.S. State based on several key factors.
The Location Heat Map tracks the number of films currently in prep and production across the United States as well as the states receiving the most search traffic on CreditScout and combines this info into one metric.
The map will soon be up on CreditScout but here’s a preview.
Utilizing CreditScout’s core functionality, the Location Heat Map also taps into each state’s financial viability for the remaining fiscal year to predict which territories will be “hot or cold” for production in the next several months.
Feel free to embed our metric in a third-party site or blog:
