5/7/07:
OHIO has passed incentive legislation, but it needs to be modified
before it is useful to the film production community. The tax credits are
neither assignable nor transferable, so only Ohio investors will benefit.
• Cleveland Film Commission
o Phone? (216) 623-3910
o Website ? www.clevelandfilm.com/
• Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Film Commission
o Phone ? (513) 784-1744
o Website ? www.filmcincinnati.com/
• Western Reserve Film Commission (Youngstown)
o Phone ? (330) 743-3900
o Website ? www.filminohio.com/
• Greater Columbus Film Commission
o Phone ? (614) 264-2324
o Website ? www.filmcolumbus.com
Amir Eylon
Interim State Tourism Director
Division of Travel and Tourism
Ohio Film Commission
Phone: 614-466-8844
Email: aeylon@odod.state.oh.us
12/2006s article:
Tax incentives for filmmakers who come to Ohio hit a snag
Saturday, December 02, 2006
A state tax incentive program for film productions could help lure
more Hollywood films like "Spider-Man 3" -- which filmed in downtown Cleveland
this year -- to town, backers say. An Ohio Senate committee is recommending
a study of the incentives, instead of a bill that would go ahead and enact
them.
The prospect that Ohio will offer tax credits to film produc tions
anytime soon dimmed this week when an Ohio Senate committee decided the
issue needed more study.
The committee took the tax-credit issue off the table and instead recommended
passage of a bill that would create an advisory panel to study Ohio's electronic
media.
"All the tax-incentive language went away," said Chris Carmody,
Greater Cleveland Film Commission president who has worked to get a state
tax-credit bill passed. "We were surprised by this."
Many states and cities have tax incentives to attract film and television
productions and the economic revenue they generate. In most cases, the
incentive programs allow states to reduce income, sales and other taxes.
Proponents of an Ohio tax-incentive bill think the legislation, paired
with the availability of the Cleveland Convention Center for use as a sound
stage, could help the area become a film hub.
The substitute bill would create a 21-person Ohio Media Productivity
Advisory Committee. The committee would receive $50,000 from the state
to study the electronic media industry in the state and existing incentive
programs for the film industry across the nation, said Erika Cybulskis,
legislative aide for Ohio Sen. Patricia Clancy. A Republican from Cincinnati,
Clancy co-sponsored the original bill.
Committee members recommended passage of the substitute bill because
they had questions about the original legislation's possible consequences,
Cybulskis said. Clancy still favors economic help for Ohio's film industry,
Cybulskis said.
The advisory report could come as late as 2008 if all the allowable
time is taken, Carmody said.
"It could put us in a bad situation for two years," he said. "It's
fine with me if people want to study this, as long as the tax incentive
isn't held up."
The film commission has a $25,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation
to analyze the economic impact of tax credits on Ohio's economy. Spending
taxpayer money on the same task is redundant, Carmody said.
"We've also provided an exhaustive amount of economic information on
the benefits of the motion-picture industry to our economy -- over the
past four state budget cycles," he said.
The substitute bill's next stop is the Senate floor. Then it must be
introduced and passed in the House, which has been considering its own
version of a tax-credit bill.
The calendar is against anything happening this year. The current
legislature expires at the end of the year. If the substitute bill doesn't
make that deadline, it would have to be reintroduced.
Carmody wants to have a new tax-credit bill introduced in the Senate
or attached to an existing bill as an amendment.
Close to a handshake
Time Warner Cable recently ran an ad stating that its carrier agreement
with WJW Channel 8 is due to expire. It raised the possibility that Time
Warner might drop Channel 8 from its roster of channels.
But a Time Warner spokeswoman said the ad is a formality, and the corporations
are expected to reach an agreement before the expiration date, Sunday,
Dec. 31.
"It's not a big deal," said Mike Renda, Channel 8 president and general
manager.
Negotiations have been dragging on for two years, he said.
"I don't think there's any hurry either way," he said
Discussions are taking place at the corporate level, and Renda
said he didn't know what the specific issues are.
Sound bites
Ray Petro, owner of Ray's MTB indoor mountain bike park in Cleveland,
will be highlighted on MSNBC's "Your Business." The program features small
businesses from across the country.
Petro's segment airs at 7:30 a.m. Sunday and repeats at 5:30 a.m. on
Saturday, Dec. 9. Check out the "Your Business" Web site, www.yourbusiness.msnbc.com,
for video of the segment beginning Monday.
The "Today" show takes viewers inside "A Christmas Story" House
and Museum in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood with a segment scheduled
to air Tuesday. The piece includes footage taped at the house's grand opening
over Thanksgiving weekend.
Turner Classic Movies also has produced a short promo segment on the
house and museum for its show "Hollywood in My Hometown." It will air before
TCM's broadcast of "A Christmas Story" at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15.
Brian Jones, who purchased the house used for exterior filming in the
movie "A Christmas Story," appears in the "Today" and TCM segments. The
film is based on a book by humorist Jean Shepherd.
To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
jwashington@plaind.com, 216-999-4539
OHIO
The city of Youngstown, via its Warren Regional Film Commission, announced
locations available for filming, according to Richard Ouzounian (call 330.746.2080).
Some are fully equipped hospitals, an empty prison, and an airport with
9000 feet of runway, ticket counters, gates, and security. The region also
has many industrial sites available, from steel mills to auto manufacturing.
Some sites are available for demolition sequences, while downtown Youngstown
has office and government buildings of all types...................From
Production Update Magazine Jan. 2004
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From : Production Update Magazine
7021 Hayvenhurst Ave., Suite 205
Van Nuys, CA 91406
Phone: (818) 785-6362
Fax : (818) 785-8092
Or e-mail us:
James Thompson
Editor / Publisher-in-Chief
jt@updatemag.tv
THE
GREAT LAKES STATES
Locations,
Infrastructure, Equipment & New Incentives To Lure Your Next Production
By Ruth L. Ratny
In northern Ohio, 200 film requests for visual media were received in the past year by Leslie Ward, vice-president of film commission services for the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, a non-profit organization operating with public and private funding. It works with corporate partners like Continental Airlines and the Ritz Carleton Hotel, Ward notes, to work out the best deals on plane and hotel rates for filmmakers.
"We had a lot of reality television shoot in Cleveland," Ward says, referring to cable show episodes such as Discovery Channel and Animal Planet and the Food Channel's $40 a Day, the Antique Road Show, and music shows related to Cleveland's Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. The lone feature was Deep Attack, starring Billy Zane, an action movie headed for cable this fall.
The state of Ohio has no incentives, but Cuyahoga County, in which Cleveland is located, offers a 1% rebate of the county sales tax.
Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio have no state-legislated incentives. Filming costs are low, however, and permit costs are either non-existent or minuscule, like Indiana's $10 fee for the length of the production..............................READ MORE