Colorado Aims to Double State's Film Incentives

There's a new gun in town looking to get Colorado all shot up and his name is Donald Zuckerman. Appointed as Director of the Colorado Film Commission by Governor Hickenlooper in 2011, Zuckerman began an aggressive campaign to attract more film productions to the state.

Denver video producer and writer, Richard Schneider recently reported on Governor Hickenlooper's moves to "double the size of the state's incentive for film, television, and media production from 10 to 20 percent." The proposal was submitted to the Colorado legislature's Joint Budget Committee in November, but has to make its way to the state house and senate. Behind the scenes, Zuckerman has been rallying support with, "industry groups, such as lodging, restaurants, rental car companies, and airlines, in garnering support for the increased incentive," said Schneider.

Film's Economic Impact

Why does Colorado need to compete in a quixotic race to be the next Hollywood? It's makes economic sense first of all, but it also creates cinematic postcards seen by millions of people worldwide. Several states are reining in there incentive programs due to budget cuts, and in Wisconsin, the governor eliminated the state's 25% tax incentive after a Commerce Department report, "showed almost no net income for the state" according to Zach Patton. As quick as the popularity of incentive programs rose in states, they seem to be losing favor. Patton continued, "Part of the problem is data. It's hard to get a good handle on the exact impact of an in-state movie production. In most places, the only reports on movie-production revenue and jobs come from the state film office--or the movie industry itself."

The Leeds School of Business at C.U. Boulder released an exhaustive 66 page report that detailed how other states compared to the existing Colorado film industry and the projected impact if incentives were raised. It showed that if the current 10% cash rebate was increased to even just 15% to 20%, over 2,500 direct jobs in the film industry and up to 3,400 indirect jobs will be created.

Direct jobs will grow with Colorado's existing film industry, known as "below-the-line" credits, which consists of the production crew not involved in a film's artistic decisions. This pool of crews is being filled by educational film programs at several of Colorado's major universities. Also, in 2011 Hollywood Reporter named Colorado Film School one of the 25 best film schools in the country, so it's important that this reputation has room to grow into local jobs.

Indirect jobs consist of construction crews, transportation, catering, electronics and hospitality to name a few. The dilemma faced by some states is that big studio productions come into town, and eat up the allotted funds for incentives. One or two big budget films a year can eat up a state's annual rebate cap. Zuckerman mentioned he "doesn't want to see Colorado chasing giant projects produced by Disney or other mega studios." Smaller, independent films are more flexible and with smaller budgets, the state can accommodate more rebates, and reap a steadier flow of economic activity. With this philosophy, Zuckerman also taps into a growing market of independent films being released theatrically, on cable television and the web.

With Zuckerman's lean approach to attracting more, not bigger productions with higher incentives, it enhances the Leeds Study projections of a 55% increase in local film business, which translates into $226 million a year of economic activity.

It's true that in a time when local budgets look like victims in a slasher film, allocating money for such programs may seem frivolous. Supporting a stronger Film industry in Colorado means much more than just a few thousand temporary jobs for film students. There are also larger impacts on the local creative industries, such as companies and freelancers who work in technology and media. Cultural and artistic communities are bolstered economically by mutual support between film, music, art, writing, design, theatre and the various technical skills that support these mediums.

I talked to Zuckerman briefly and asked what an average tax-paying film lover like myself can do to support the bill. As expected, he told me to write to my congressional representatives voicing support for the bill. It's as simple as an email saying: Dear Representative, Please support the film incentive program, as I want to see The Most Beautiful Backyard in America on the Big Screen.

Read more about how Colorado is losing the rebate race at Mile High Cinema.