INDReporter

JBE: State will review movie credit program

The announcement came on the same day the Associated Press reported that Louisiana’s robust film industry is down about 90 percent this year after the state winded down the tax credit program last summer.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday that the state economic development agency will conduct a comprehensive review of Louisiana’s Motion Picture Production Tax Credit program with the goal of reforming the program and instituting best practices ahead of the 2017 fiscal session. The announcement came on the same day the Associated Press reported that Louisiana’s robust film industry, which in 2013 outpaced California in the number of major studio productions shot on location, is down about 90 percent this year after the state winded down the tax credit program last summer.

Edwards said Tuesday the comprehensive LED review will examine the program’s economic impact and will consider input from all stakeholders including the film industry.

Louisiana has a storied history in filmmaking, with one of the world’s most diverse settings for cinematic and television productions,” Edwards said in a Tuesday release announcing the review. “Since the dawn of Louisiana’s modern-era film program in 2002, we have played host to more than $6 billion in film and TV production. We’ve developed an infrastructure that supports thousands of jobs, boosts small businesses and communities statewide, and provides a powerful impact that we seek to retain. Today, and going forward, we’re focusing on what we can do to provide greater fiscal stability to state government, while creating a sustainable path for the long-term future.”

The question might be, is Tuesday’s announcement too little too late? The exodus of production companies from Louisiana to states with more attractive incentives is well underway, as AP reported on Tuesday:

Louisiana’s once-booming film industry — dubbed “Hollywood South” — was off by as much as 90 percent this past year, according to the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association. The drop is all attributed to the state’s decision to wind down its generous incentives last July, scaring off movie makers.

Show biz in the state was booming as late as last year, thanks to a generous incentive program that offered productions tax credits equal to 30 percent of their costs.

Between 2008 and mid-2015, more than 1,100 productions were filmed in the state, among them box office and Oscar-winning hits like “12 Years A Slave” and “Django Unchained.”

The tax incentive program had become so successful that Louisiana’s budding film industry even outpaced California’s in the number of major studio productions — 18 to 15 — in 2013, according to FilmL.A. Inc., a Los Angeles nonprofit.

On the flip side, success did not come cheaply: Louisiana also dished out about $1.4 billion in tax credits in the past eight years.