News

The Governator Lobbying for Incentives

Action hero-turned-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said last week that California must increase tax incentives for movie and television studios to stop them from moving out of state in order to obtain tax breaks that other states offer, costing mountains of revenue for the Golden State and causing thousands of job losses for Californians.

Tax credit proposals have been denied recently, even though Assembly speakers have been steadily pushing for a tax credit for the past decade. Productions have been moving to a variety of cheaper locations, including Louisiana, New Mexico, Florida, and Michigan, as these states offer generous tax incentives. New York recently crashed the party, offering a 35% credit if three-quarters of a production is filmed in the Empire State.

Hopefully, the Governator can get the ball rolling to keep films in the state that has long been synonymous with the art of filmmaking.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
05.13.08