Variety: If Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled next week, the entertainment industry will lose a valuable ally in Sacramento.
The industry’s top concern at the Capitol is the film and TV tax credit, which provides a 20-25% discount on eligible production spending in the state.
3 comments:
I understand the idea that lucrative industries should be taxed properly but I feel like more stable industries should be considered first before art industries like film. Especially coming out of COVID. I’m disconcerted about this campaign to keep tax cuts only because billionaire directors are the ones spearheading the movement. I’d like to look into it more to make sure that it’s an equitable tax policy. Regardless, tax breaks towards industries that are unstable and don’t inherently damage the environment are not the worst thing in my book. I’m not sure what republicans are talking about with “reducing the cost of doing business” besides taxes, but I really think that there are far bigger problems going on in California, specifically in regards to the environment, that could be tackled besides tax benefits for unstable industries. I want to see what happens in the film industry if the recall brings in a republican candidate, but I don’t think a republican candidate will win.
I feel like if this really was a problem, Hollywood would be doing more about it. I never once recall seeing a commercial or anything related to taxes for film, and given how much money a company like Uber was willing to put into their bill a while back and make it well known, if this really was a pressing matter, they would make it known. The lack of vocalization could be that they are prepared to move assets out of California, which is what a lot of tech companies are already doing. The article only really highlights the donations, which makes me wonder if that is so that voters don’t see how much tax exemption the film industry gets. Also this entire article just feels like a date late, dollar short in it’s publishing, considering how close voting is to being closed. It just seems that Variety wanted to get a word in, versus actually detailing what could really happen and the larger, if any, actions that Hollywood has taken asides from some donations.
I am not usually a fan of tax credits and tax breaks. Often, they are used by the higher-level corporate leaders to do stock buybacks or use whatever machinations they can think of to make themselves a lot of money and not actually put any of that into the company or the wages of the lowest workers on the corporate ladder. If politicians like Elder say the want to lower taxes for corporations that’s just code for “I want to make the rich, richer.” In that sense, if that’s where these Hollywood tax credits are going than sure let’s get rid of them. That said, we as an industry need to dispel this myth that we are all rich and wealthy elites. Just because the people on the screen and producers make millions, that does not mean everyone working on these movies is making even a living wage. Like any business there is a pay disparity between the grunt workers and the business leaders and that’s something that groups like IATSE need to promote across America, because I am tired of being lumped in with the “coastal Hollywood elites.”
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