Sometimes in order to get ahead, you have to get behind first. For example, you are currently employed making $10/hr and get a job offer that will pay you $9/hr for the first six months and then $11/hr after that. In order to get ahead, you have to get behind.
Starting in 2008, Michigan began giving film incentives, called the Film and Digital Media Assistance Program, so that producers would come make films here. The incentives don’t just apply to filmmakers; they can also apply to projects such as video games, television series, digital animation and even music videos. Projects with over $100,000 in direct production expenditures and Michigan personnel expenditures may qualify for the incentives.
Earlier this month, a bill was introduced to and passed in the state House of Representatives that would end these incentives effective Oct. 1 of this year. The argument for ending the incentives was that they are costing the state too much money.
While it is true that giving these incentives has cost the state around $450 million since they began, the film industry has spent over $1.3 billion in the state since then, according to the Michigan Film Office. After looking at the numbers of movies made in Michigan in recent years, one can clearly see that the incentives are doing their job – bringing money here and creating jobs!
From 2000-2007 (before the incentives went into effect) an average of seven movies per year were made in Michigan. From 2008-2014 (after the incentives went into effect) that number increased to 28.
Clearly, the incentives are working. Aside from the aspect of having Hollywood stars hanging around, just think about all of the money that they’ll spend here! To cut the incentives after just seven years would be a waste of a plan that is obviously working.
The film industry isn’t rooted deeply enough in Michigan to cut the incentives and then cross our fingers and hope that it sticks around. Back in December, the House and Senate voted to extend the incentives through 2021. That is the plan that we need to stick with. We need to let the incentives do their job let them run their full course before cutting them.
It’s obvious that the tri-cities (and Michigan) are interested in film. Just look at the several film festivals that have popped up in the past decade: Hell’s Half Mile, Riverside Saginaw Film Festival and the Old Saginaw City Lawn Chair Film Festival to name a few.
Delta College has even introduced the Digital Film Advanced Certificate and is hoping to start a Digital Film Associates in the near future.
The bill is now on its way to the Senate. Hopefully, the Senate will realize the full potential of the film incentives and cut this new bill.
-By Gabrielle Martin