|
It has come to our attention that some articles presented on the web have portrayed the incentive program for The Moving Image industry in Texas as corporate welfare for major Hollywood Studios and commercial advertisers. This is an erroneous representation of the program.
Of primary importance, this program is about jobs in Texas and the financial benefits our State and local municipalities will receive from these projects when produced in-State.
This is not corporate welfare – far from it. The Texas incentive program is built around bringing money to the State as well as keeping it here. If large national or international corporations are the ones writing the checks and income is derived as a result, that is also far from corporate welfare. One of the most important elements to understand about this program is that it is performance-based. In other words, no incentive funds are available to producers until after they have come and spent their money in Texas, paid Texas workers and then present the documentation to prove it.
Nothing breeds success like success. In spring of 2008, Smithville, Texas, with a population of fewer than 5,000, saw local spending of more than $1.4 million over five months during the filming of the motion picture “THE TREE OF LIFE,” due for release in 2009. Spending came from housing rentals, location fees, construction costs, fuel, groceries, props, security services and more. Sales tax income to the City jumped by 17% during that period. Of the 1,286 actors and extras used in Texas scenes, all but 12 were Texas residents. As a result, Smithville is already seeing tourism from this film, and expects it to continue for years to come. This has also been the case in the ten years that have passed since “HOPE FLOATS” also filmed in Smithville. These are the kinds of stories we would like to see repeated across Texas, but without an effective incentive program, they just aren’t going to happen.
When Texas was once referred to as the “Third Coast”, there were many more people who made their living, bought houses, raised families and paid taxes by working in the film industry. Texas has long laid claim to possessing a strong existing infrastructure of talent (performing and production) as well as production and post-production facilities. While they have eroded from their peaks, they still account for significant revenue for the State. The Moving Image Industry has been a billion dollar business in Texas and still accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars spent in-State. However, with each year that we have been unable to be competitive in the incentive arena, we have lost billings, while our infrastructure has weakened. Our goal is to recapture and rebuild what we have lost as well as establish a robust mechanism for sustainable growth for now and in the future.
The financing of the efforts of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA) have come from Texas residents and Texas companies who believe in the financial benefits the State can gain from this industry -- not from Studios and Corporations looking for another way to pad their bottom lines.
Our people have joined together, not to give money away to the “Fortune 500”, but to keep our jobs in Texas. We have taken a detailed and measured look at how to be competitive in bringing projects to the State without losing site of meaningful and significant revenue returning to Texas. The current incentive program is performance-based and therefore does not burden taxpayers. Economic impact studies show that the return/cost to the State is revenue-neutral, utilizing the most conservative approach of calculating return and, in fact, an economic generator when multiplier effects are included.
The moving image industry, unlike most industries bringing money and jobs into Texas, requires very little infrastructure expense from the State coffers for things such as new schools, roads, utilities, police and firemen. In reality, producers bring in large amounts of cash; spend it here and then move on to the next project. We don’t know of another industry that requires so little from the State, yet leaves so much money behind. Once this money is brought to Texas our goal is to keep it here and have it re-circulate in the economy again and again.
No one in Texas is in favor of incentives for any industry that does not bring significant returns back to the State. This includes the TXMPA. However, we are in favor of preserving our jobs while creating new ones that bring value to The State of Texas. This is what we are fighting to do.
|
