State tax breaks reel in film projects

The Schenectady-based filming this summer of the motion picture "The Place Beyond the Pines," like many motion picture and TV productions in New York, takes advantage of a state tax credit program hailed as both an economic stimulator but criticized as a giveaway.

The Empire State Film Production Tax Credit, a taxpayer-funded incentive to the television and movie industry, has weathered budget cuts and economic downturns and was bolstered by New York lawmakers while other credits were being suspended or killed to help balance the state budget.

In Gov. David A. Paterson's final budget, for 2010-11, the program was expanded. State law keeps it in place through 2014-15 at $420 million a year in credits -- deductions on state taxes or a reimbursement if the state tax liability is less than the credit for companies filming at least 75 percent of their production in New York.

Through 2010, the state had issued $597.4 million in tax credits to 360 projects. State officials won't disclose the amount of credits specific projects received. Without the credit, dozens of films, including the one being filmed in Schenectady, may have been shot elsewhere. Many TV pilots, episodes and series would have been made in California or regions outside New York with more favorable incentives, according to supporters, state officials and film industry representatives.

"They were going to shoot this in New Mexico," Don Rittner, commissioner of the Schenectady Film Commission, said of "The Place Beyond the Pines," which stars Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes." A spokesman for Los Angeles-based Sidney Kimmell Entertainment, which is producing "The Place Beyond the Pines," declined to comment.

The more than two months of filming in Schenectady, Rittner said, should bring $2 million into the area. Anthony Ferrari of Ferrari's Ristoranti said that based on the rumor alone that some stars were going to dine at his Mont Pleasant restaurant, lines of customers snaked around the corner to grab tables as they opened up.

Rittner said the tax credit is a key to plans by two independent filmmakers to produce in Schenectady in coming months. He expects scenes for the films "Indelible" and "Chickadee" to be shot locally.

The credit program was created in 2004 to offset 10 percent of eligible production costs (those not involving the pay of actors, directors, producers or writers). But its success in keeping work in New York resulted in extensions and higher credit caps as other states and regions matched or exceeded the program. The credit is now good for 30 percent of eligible production costs, which typically are about 50 percent of overall costs of a project.

"The results have been nothing short of miraculous," said Assemb. Joseph Morelle (D-Irondequoit), who drafted the original tax credit bill seven years ago as chairman of the Tourism Committee. Studios are so busy in New York City that they are expanding and crews are beginning to search for upstate sites, he said.

Vans Stevenson, of the Motion Picture Association of America, said that of the 40 states offering the credits, 20 are competitive with New York and Canada.

The commitment made by the state is "why there's more going on in New York right now than in California, in terms of features."