In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re currently in what could easily be described as a bonanza of new TV and film production. Just Netflix alone is expected to spend about $13-billion on new content production just this year. Spread that out across the other providers who are now making shows and films, like Amazon and even Apple, and there is lots of money up for grabs for locations for productions – and some states are working hard to attract it.
According to Florida TaxWatch’s report, “Is the Sun Setting on Film in Florida,” in 2016 the Florida motion picture and television industry was responsible for more than 150,000 jobs and about $2-billion in wages. That was at the end of five years of incentives for studios…but that program was allowed to sunset that year, and several high-profile productions were either cancelled or moved to another state.
The nonprofit Film Florida estimates the Legislature’s unwillingness to fund the tax credit incentives has cost the state more than $1-billion in known lost opportunities. We discuss these lost incentives, and efforts to revive them, with John Lux, he is Executive Director of Film Florida; and Dominic Calabro, he is President & CEO of Florida Taxwatch.
