Today’s New York Times paints a stark picture: production is steadily fleeing Los Angeles for more incentive-rich regions around the globe. What I can’t understand is why our own studios—many led by executives who live here—continue to let it happen. When the fires hit, they were quick to donate millions for fire relief. But then a week later they turn around and send productions to Budapest and the UK. The truth is, they have the power to choose differently. No one’s asking for every show to stay in L.A., but surely a fraction could. The artists and crews who built this industry—and this city—deserve that much. It’s time we ask more from the people who can actually make the call. https://lnkd.in/gDt3JvxH
G. Paul Pitalo
3mo
With all due respect, CEO's & Board members dgaf about the people who built their companies, they're just about the bottom line. Until there is a shift in corporate culture you can forget about them having any kind of loyalty to hometown heroes. The way I see it, they'll only change if the viewing public boycotts movies made overseas & are very vocal about it. Even then, the Zazlov's & the Iger's of the world will double down on the notion that they're right & everyone else is wrong until they're shown the door.
Richard Ramirez
3mo
It’s important to look beyond tax incentives and factor in labor costs. In the United States, on a union production, the production companies pay a fringe on top of our salary. This fringe covers our retirement and healthcare contributions. In overseas productions, they are not obligated to pay into a retirement or healthcare system. They are required to carry insurance in case of injury on the job, but basic healthcare in most European countries is covered by socialized medicine. This fringe in California can be as much as 32% above and beyond our salary. So you add the tax incentives with the fringe cost, and that is part of why it’s cheaper to shoot out of the country. Tax incentives alone are not going to solve the problem. They will help, but they won’t solve the problem. I am a 30+ year proud Union member who hasn’t worked in two years.
Klaudija Cermak
3mo
Greed is destroying everything.
Mary Mallory
3mo
There should be a Marshall plan to bring filming back.
Brayden Smith
3mo
My opinion is that even if the tax incentive is fixed, the studios will find another way to make filmmaking unobtainable. What is the goal of inflated budgets and taking away everyone else’s ability to make films in CA? To make filmmaking a studio venture only. Why are they so upset about an original film doing well that has reversion clauses? Because they are losing grip on their little lie that we can’t make films without them. They won’t fight for us. We need to fight for ourselves and a tax credit that makes sense for someone outside the studio system.
Dan Keston
3mo
California does not have comparable tax credits, has prohibitive rules and regulations, and charges extra fees while locations, parking, etc. challenge productions everywhere they turn. Other states bend over backwards, block off streets for shooting, have locals excited to be a part of content making, and most importantly, offer productions 30-40% of their budget recouped from day 1. Having the best talent and crews is no longer enough to offset that. Meanwhile, in the "what have you done lately" studio world, the studio execs are trying to keep their jobs, and there is no good way to explain to their more financially conscious parent companies that they are greenlighting the same movie for 40% more just to do it in California.
Jim Hillin
3mo
The studio heads don’t care how much they hurt the town they live in. It’s not prrsonal, right?
Executive Producer
3moJason, those men executives at the studios have no balls (tiny at all levels) and the women at the studios care only bologna women's rights. That's all! However, new Hollywood model will soon present to many 🤨 .