New York's Tax Incentive 'Stealing' Hollywood Business

A senior executive who helped pioneer the provision of a special tax break programme for film production in New York has spoken of its apparent success in stealing productions away from the big west coast studios.
Douglas C. Steiner, (pictured) Chairman of Steiner Studios in Brooklyn - the largest such studio facility outside Los Angeles - spoke of his hopes for the future of filmmaking beyond Hollywood.
In an interview published in the August issue of Regional Film & Video magazine he said that the tax break programme was created by the state of New York.
"The programme is a combination of credits issued both from New York City and New York State that provides a fully refundable tax credit equal to 35% of production expenditures to qualifying productions of both feature film and television," he said.
"The new legislation was actually signed on April 23rd, the opening day of the Tribeca Film Festival," he continued, noting that the signing of the legislation was appropriate considering the festival itself was created as a different type of incentive - one to revitalize downtown Manhattan as well as film production in the city after 9/11.
He told journalist, Heather-Annie McCalden that the Steiner Studio actually spearheaded the programme: "The tax break was designed in part by Steiner Studios and structured with the city in mind. It was specifically put together for New York City, drawing on its strengths and the way it operates.
"After all," he continued, "People love all New York City has to offer - it's a 24-hour city.
"Originally there was no infrastructure in place for large television or film productions, but the tax incentive and places like our facility have changed that.
"People are coming here for the tax incentive, and with the dollar so cheap we are expecting more international clients."
Asked about California's failure to offer tax breaks to its own film industry, he said: "It's related to the politics and government of California.
"The state can't really afford a tax credit programme at the moment.
"Other states have tax incentive programmes, but most of these are more feel-good for the state than actually viable for the industry because they're designed to bring in the novelty of production and not built to support something like a long term television series."
But, asked about a gradual shift away from Hollywood, and if it could be more about advancements in technology than about tax incentives, he said: "Most of the industry is still in Hollywood, but it is a primarily nomadic industry, and it will travel to where things are cheap to do.
"Cost plays a larger role than technology," he said, noting that Steiner gets the projects that had the potential to be exported to Canada, Eastern Europe, Mexico, or New Zealand.
"There is a more global sense of production now," he said. "I think it's a global business, but we do have to compete to try to make production cost effective without costing the city.
"New York's advantage is that we're doing just that in a place people want to be. We have the best crew base in the world, and most of the talent lives here. We've got a different vibe than LA.
"New York culture is more in your face, and there's more passion for the work," claimed the senior executive.
"Production... shooting... it's a real way of life here, not a 9 to 5, and people work really hard," he said.
"Los Angeles is more laid back and static. The intensity of New York not only drives the city, but also makes it an attractive place for people to shoot here. It's dense with lots of stimulus," he concluded, noting significant success in attracting work since the tax break was introduced.
(BMcC)