Saturday, April 05, 2014
'House of Cards' crew could have equipment seized if the show stops filming in Maryland
The Verge: As House of Cards threatens to leave Maryland over tax credits, the state is fighting back — or at least one delegate is. Del. C. William "Bill" Frick (D-Montgomery) proposed an amendment that would allow state officials to use eminent domain to seize the show's sets, equipment, and other assets if they take production elsewhere.
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4 comments:
This just seems silly. If the state doesn't want the show to leave, they should use incentives to get them to stay, not childishly punish them. I'm not sure if this would be even legal under the rules of eminent domain- I don't know much about the legality of this stuff but I'm pretty sure that eminent domain only applies if the state is taking the property for civic/public use, such as taking land to build a highway that would benefit the citizens of the state in general. It shouldn't be used to take revenge on a company that is moving for economic reasons. Not only will this technique probably not work, it'll almost definitely drive away anyone who was planning to film in the state in the future. These politicians should grow up and address this problem in a constructive way.
Eminent domain? That’s the ploy the state wants to pull here in order to keep House of Cards filming here. If Maryland wants to keep the show in state, maybe instead of threatening to seize the production company, they should continue to lobby for the tax credits that film and television has gotten in Maryland for a while.
I’m from Maryland, and as much as I love that House of Cards is filmed there, we shouldn’t be forcing artists to stay by threatening to seize their gear.
What’s next? The government seizes the tour of Katy Perry because they want it to stay in a certain city? (I mean though, if they seized Katy Perry, TAIT would just send the advance set and build another one.)
This is so strange. Maryland is acting like a small child. How would taking away House of Cards' filming equipment solve anything. Does Maryland think that if they take away their equipment that the show will all of a sudden really want to keep filming there? The only way I see to keep House of Cards filming there would be to increase their tax incentives, not steal their stuff.
I feel like both sides are wrong in this situation. House of Cards shouldn't be threatening to leave unless given more money and the state shouldn't be using Eminent Domain to hold them hostage. I feel like if both sides were being less childish and dramatic then this could be settled without either side losing out. I do believe Maryland is more in the right here, but this rash solution won't get them anywhere. I wonder what the repercussions would be for HOC if Del. C. Frick gets his way. Even if they were able to seize all of the HOC production equipment they would have to pay for it and there is the question of what use it would have for the public in Maryland. I hope they find a better way to combat the issue they are having with HOC.
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