Local cities slash funding to Hampton Roads Film Office
Posted By HR Partnership on February 12, 2010
Excerpt from WTKR-TV3; Photo credit, IMDB
When it comes to Hollywood stars, there are not many brighter than Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly. In her new movie, she plays a woman named Virginia, who lives in Virginia – Virginia Beach.
The movie takes place in Virginia Beach. It involves a Virginia Beach woman who is in a relationship with the Virginia Beach sheriff. They even spend time on the Virginia Beach boardwalk. However, the film was shot in Michigan.
In Holland, Michigan hundreds of extras lined up to play the people of Hampton Roads.
The film is called “What’s Wrong With Virginia?“
Since the filmmakers snubbed the city, the title has become an indictment on Hampton Roads’ feature film failures.
Why did we miss out on that?
“We missed out because we didn’t have the financial package put together,” said Rita McClenny, state film commissioner [Virginia Film Office].
McClenny says unlike most states, Virginia offers no meaningful incentives. Certainly nothing like North Carolina where moviemakers get a 25 percent rebate on what they spend. That’s why much of “Nights in Rodanthe” was actually shot in Rodanthe. And it’s why television shows like One Tree Hill are based in North Carolina.
And Virginia gives nothing like the 42 percent rebate Michigan used to woo away Jennifer Connelly and company.
“It was a very, very Virginia Beach story that was filmed in Michigan. And it was pretty devastating, frankly,” McClenny said.
It could be even more devastating to Jeff Frizzell. Because Hollywood keeps passing us by, local cities are slashing funding to the four-year-old Hampton Roads Film Office. Frizzell, the commissioner, admits the venture is on the verge of collapse. On this day, Frizzell is trying to pry money out of politicians in Richmond.
Mr. Mathers’ story on WTKR-TV3 is correct, funding for the Hampton Roads Film Office (HRFO) by some cities has been either cut or eliminated all together, but that is where the accuracy ends.
The HRFO received funding from 5 Hampton Roads localities (including Norfolk) and the state for the current fiscal year. This, in combination with in-kind contributions by the Hampton Roads Partnership, allowed the HRFO to have another very successful year.
The HRFO does not define success by sightings of George Clooney or Tom Hanks in Hampton Roads. Major motion picture production does bring in significant economic impact to a region, but so do independent films, television series, commercial work, corporate video, and other types of production. During calendar year 2009, production companies have come to Hampton Roads from networks including MTV, A&E, TLC, BBC, Discovery, The Food Network, The History Channel and others. They have produced shows including the TLC hit series “What Not to Wear”, A&E’s “Hoarders”, and The Food Network’s “Throw Down With Bobby Flay”. As far as big budget Hollywood productions “The Box” starring Cameron Diaz was partially filmed in Hampton at NASA Langley, where over 150 extras were hired along with a large contingent of local crew members. The HBO mini-series “John Adams” starring Paul Gamatti and Laura Linney, and produced by Tom Hanks filmed in Virginia and spent nearly $80 million dollars in the state, with a portion of that in Williamsburg.
The Hampton Roads region produced $120 million in economic impact, $9 million in state and local tax revenue, and created over 700 jobs annually since the inception of the HRFO in 2006. The reality series “Eish Safari” filmed in Hampton Roads this past summer produced over 900 man-hours of work for local crew and spent nearly $1 million dollars in the region, and while you may not see it in the theaters, 20 million viewers overseas will. They will see the beauty and the history of Hampton Roads, Virginia and maybe decide it’s where they want to take their next vacation or locate their next business venture.
The HRFO’s lobbying efforts over the last 4 years at the Virginia General Assembly has been for funding of the production industry as a whole in an effort to create jobs, not for money to fund the regional office. The HRFO is currently working with the Norfolk Economic Development Alliance to create an Advisory Board to help secure funding and commit to a long-term strategic plan so the Film Office can continue to bring in production dollars and create jobs in Hampton Roads.
Please feel free to contact the Film Office with any comments, questions or concerns.
W. Jeffrey Frizzell has been Commissioner of the Hampton Roads Film Office (HRFO) since it’s inception. The Film Office, a division of the Hampton Roads Partnership, opened in July of 2006 with it’s office located in downtown Norfolk. The HRFO mission is to generate economic impacts in the Hampton Roads region by attracting film, television and related media projects to our region. The Film Office assists local and out of area productions with location, crew and resource (building materials, rental cars, hotel, etc) assistance. The film office also markets the region as a superior location of choice.
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Should Virginia roll out the red carpet for the motion picture industry?
February 15, 2010 4:21 PM
by Paula C. Squires, Virginia Business
http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/opinion/article/should-virginia-roll-out-the-red-carpet-for-the-motion-picture-industry/203235/
Tourism is an important industry in Virginia. It generates more than $19 billion a year in revenue, supports more than 210,000 jobs and provides $1.2 billion in state and local taxes.
So it’s no wonder that Gov. Bob McDonnell wants to beef up the state’s commitment. Among his economic development initiatives: double the budget for the state’s marketing agency to $3.6 million a year, increase the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund to $2 million and provide tax credits to production companies that film in The Old Dominion.
Alisa Bailey, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corp., is thrilled with the governor’s proposals. In a recent e-newsletter, she says the extra funding would restore out-of-state advertising and allow upgrades to the Web site that would assist visitors in trip planning.
As for tax credit incentives for filmmakers, plenty of people like to point out that Virginia has been losing productions to states with higher tax breaks. Recently, a film about Secretariat, the Triple Crown-winning horse from Virginia, was filmed in Louisiana and Kentucky. “The Box,” a thriller released in November that starred Cameron Diaz with a story line set in Richmond, was filmed in Boston.
As the argument goes, production companies supposedly spend millions while filming — patronizing local businesses and hiring local workers. So, it makes sense to offer them a carrot. The Virginia state Senate already has passed a bill championed by the governor that would provide tax credits of up to $10 million over a two-year period to production companies with qualifying expenses of at least $250,000. A companion bill in the House has been assigned to a subcommittee.
Yet, a recent report from the non-profit Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., questions whether film tax credits actually spur economic growth. “Motion-picture incentives are often touted as ‘job-creating’ programs, but they create mostly temporary positions with limited upward mobility,” said William Luther, a Tax Foundation adjunct scholar who authored the report, “Movie Production Incentives: Blockbuster Support for Lackluster Policy.”
According to the report, 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico offer significant movie production incentives, up from five states in 2002. However, some states are reviewing programs, because of record budget shortfalls and revelations of mismanagement. The report says Kansas suspended its program and an Iowa panel recently recommended eliminating that state’s film tax credit after findings of program abuse.
In the Iowa case, the attorney general’s office charged the former manager of the Iowa Film Office with misconduct this month and filed theft charges against several people involved in the making of a 2008 movie. They are accused of purchasing luxury vehicles using Iowa tax breaks.
While the potential for corruption exists with many state programs, the larger question now for tax incentives for motion pictures might come down to economics. Can Virginia afford to hand out goodies when the state faces a $4.3 billion budget shortfall? On the other hand, can we afford to pass up opportunities that might pay off further down the road?
[...] Now that we have these important incentives, let’s be certain to support the Hampton Roads Film Office. [...]