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 ...and why we can't afford to stay there.
Austin regularly sits atop the gamut of "best of" lists—and all for good reason. Surprisingly, there is one very important list where the state of Texas sits squarely at the bottom. The worst part is the ranking is directly contrary to Austin's most recent list topper.
The film industry magazine MovieMaker looked at various factors that are conducive to a strong filmmaking community and location, and deemed Austin #1 in the country. Having had Austin near the top for the past five years, it is clear that Hollywood knows about Austin. The problem is, while Austin became the most desirable location for making movies, fewer large productions are actually happening here than ever before. Obviously this is a drag for actors, cameramen and the like, but is this really a problem for non-industry folks? You bet your bottom dollar it is. Literally. Large movie productions generate a huge influx of cash revenue in the communities they shoot in—restaurants, retail shops, barber shops, hardware stores, nearly every economic sector cashes in. And that’s money Austin is losing out on. So which list puts Texas at the very bottom? It’s the national list of film production incentives. This is the money a state decides to earmark for productions that shoot in their state. Most states in the country quickly realized film productions bring them lots of money (direct, indirect, and induced). In addition to all the money spent, it draws new film business residents (and keeps existing ones from moving away) and it even drives tourism. Any state with an incentive program to speak of settles in at around 20%, with a couple topping 40%. Texas, however, is offering films an embarrassing 5% on a minimum production budget of $1 million. Unlike many other industries, calculating the ROI on bringing productions into a state is pretty easy math. A large TV series, movie or commercial production spends about 50% of its entire budget in and around the area where they produce the film. It doesn't even matter if the movie is any good, or whether it grosses a single smacker at the box office, the entire community where it was produced gets paid. Beautiful Austin; shot in Detroit?OK, here is a disgusting little tidbit that should get any honest Austinite fired up. Drew Barrymore's latest film (in pre-production) is called Whip It, and it is set right here in beautiful Austin. Yay Austin! Right? Not so fast. Thanks to the fat incentive plan implemented in April by the state of Michigan, this film is going to be shot in…Detroit. It is nothing short of ridiculous that we cannot even attract a film that is set here. Big NumbersOK, let's take that easy math a little further. To give you an idea for the kind of income we’re losing, look at the average film budget for the "big 6" film studios. From 1995 to date, their average production-spend was around $26.5 million per film. The standouts include the Terminator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic, Harry Potter, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which topped $100 million each (source: the-numbers.com). In 2007, IMDB shows these six studios producing about 132 films. Based on the average budget, that’s nearly $3.5 billion spent by the big studios and their subsidiaries alone to make movies.
Guess what? In that same year, Texas saw a meager three of these big studio films being produced here. That is an immediate drop from the prior year when the studios made eight films in the state (source: Texas Film Commission). Do you hear that sucking sound? The big reason for such a rapid change is because so many other states all seemed to "get it" at the same time and voted to boost their incentive programs in order to grab some of the production booty. Instant economy; just add movies
After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana needed a big infusion of revenue to help them repopulate and revitalize the economy. It didn't take them long to figure out where some pretty easy money was. Bringing more movies to shoot in their state meant they could generate jobs and infuse the local economy with cash almost immediately. Next thing you know, just about every big audition any Austin actor landed was in Shreveport. Meanwhile in Illinois, Governor Rod Blagojevich recently announced that since implementing their film incentive program in 2003, Illinois has seen stellar growth of in-state productions, with 2007 topping $155 million. That is up over 80% from the prior year. Of course you can help
The solution to this unnecessary mess is that any legal resident over the age of 18 has the chance to weigh in. That’s because the civil servants who represent you in the Texas Senate control the allocation of beans that can encourage producers to come here. Every two years they are in session and vote on nearly 5000 bills. During the last session in 2007, some decisive action on the part of the Texas Film Office and the Texas production community formed the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA), which helped to get a bill onto the ballot that kicked off the current 5% incentive program.
The next session begins in January 2009. That is not a lot of runway, but you can be certain there will be another bill queued up to seek at least 15% in incentives. This is the absolute minimum needed to help take Texas off of the film funders' "no-go" list, and it needs to pass. The good news for Texas: the incentives are working
OK, enough of the doom and gloom regarding Texas production. There are some really positive outcomes that have resulted from the newly passed, but still lacking, incentive program. The production of corporate videos and commercials in the state is up! TV series production saw a good 2007 as well. The Texas Film Commission estimates that production spending in 2007 for corporate and commercial projects reached $92 million, up from $86.5 million in 2006. TV series money spent here was $74.8 million, versus the $69.5 million and $15.8 million in the prior two years respectively. Independent feature films are doing pretty well too. They dropped $11.6 million into the state and put over 1100 people to work for the 33 films they shot here. A lot of this is likely because the budgets for these types of projects often falls under the threshold that many states require before qualifying for an incentive kick back. So, devoid of the film incentive factor, people shoot where it is best to shoot. What a concept. Think statewide, act locally
Once the bill is assembled for a vote, contacting your local representative's office to show your support will be in order (stay tuned). Regardless, the next most important thing would be to join the TXMPA. This non-profit organization has just one focus in life: to make it more beneficial for TV series, commercials, and films to drop their production cash in Texas. It would be an understatement to say they need your help. The money to fund their efforts comes from members, without which there will be very little chance for having this bill pass. If you are involved in a business that sells any product or service to a film, TV, commercial, or even a video game production, then it would behoove you to join. It goes without saying that any individual crew member or actor who has ever been hired by a production company needs to sign up too.  Texas crew? Join the TXMPA We need some star power
OK, all of you A-list actors and producers who love Austin, we could really use some help here. The Texas legislature likes to see lots of numbers. Numbers of dollars and numbers of voters, which both represent influence when it comes to getting things done. The other source of influence is in star power. These are the big name actors who are from here, or even those who just have a house on the lake. First of all, join the TXMPA and donate some cash. Lobbying firms are expensive and definitely required if we have a snowball's chance in Austin of getting the incentive kicked up. Finally, lend your face and shake a couple of hands once the Texas session is back in. Let's be sure to hang onto the title of the "third coast" when it comes to moviemaking, before it is too late. Steve Muccini is president of SpotEdge Media, an award winning video production company producing content for TV and the web, and also HomeSaleVideo.com . He is also a writer, producer and actor in Austin, Texas. |