Update: Wisconsin film tax incentives

So, I talked with friend of mine who’s on the fence about the tax incentives issue.

Based on his info, I still believe that you can’t “remove” the incentives, but the current system as it was written is crap. People seem to think that Public Enemies, (oooh Johnny Depp) filmed here because they wanted the incentives. They wanted specific locations and had decided to film in Wisconsin, tax breaks or not.

The jobs created were not “hard” film jobs, but “soft” jobs not created but still counted as people working in hotels and restaurants serving the production. If you re-write the bill to work the correct way, you don’t force them to create permanent jobs (ain’t gonna happen. Paramount isn’t creating a new studio in Wisconsin just so they can film one movie… (or even 5 movies)), you force them to hire local crew in KEY positions. Hiring local PAs isn’t hiring KEY crew. Anyone who can use a broom can be a PA successfully. Use the skilled labor that exists here instead of flying them in from LA.