Our Motion Picture Tax Incentive Program is in jeopardy of being cut due to the state’s budget deficit. Ironically, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) says we were just one of the top 5 states to watch by the motion Picture Association of America along with Utah, New Mexico, Michigan, and Connecticut! The primary reason we made the list was our tax incentives.

We need to come together as a community and voice our objections and concerns. Please assist the Arizona Film & Media Coalition, Inc. (AFMC) in this effort. If our program is killed, we will no longer be on a level playing field to even be considered for films in Arizona from other states including California.

Forward the letter below (via email if you like), filling in your local reps/senators name, etc. and your personal introductory paragraph (first paragraph). Be sure to type your name at the end of your letter. An example is below. To find your local senators and representatives, please click on the link below.

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp

On this page, go to # 2 and click where appropriate. In the upper right-hand corner, you can enter in your address and zip to find your voting district. After you have found your district number, look to the upper left-hand part of the page. In green text, click on the option “Click here for a list of State Senators and Representatives”. A new page should pop up with a grid of contact info. Scroll through the names that correspond with your district # which you just found. Their listing should have their name and email address. Be sure to enter their name and address the email to their email address when creating your form email (my example below). Be sure to type your name at the end of your letter.

Please feel free to share this with other members in the entertainment industry – your students, fellow actors, production personnel, etc. Together we can make a difference! Let our voices be heard! If you have any questions, please contact Alexandria Ballesteros at alexandria@greattalents.com or the President of AFMC, Noel Paynter, at: npaynter@wnpplc.com.

Example:
June 12, 2009

Senator

Arizona State Senate

1700 West Washington

Phoenix, AZ 85007

RE: Motion Picture Tax Incentive Program

Dear Senators,

I make my living in productions depending on the projects that come to Arizona. The influx of tax incentive program nationwide should be an indicator of how competitive our industry is and how important it is for our state to maintain and continue our current Mopic program. I hope you’ll take the time to read the information below and attached and weigh the facts to see that our program does benefit the state of Arizona now and will continue to do so on and into the future.

The film industry in Arizona has a long history of contributing to a vibrant economy by providing high-paying jobs and leaving production dollars in urban and rural communities while promoting the grandeur of our state. This law was passed to help revitalize an industry that had witnessed a 60% reduction in revenue over a 10 year period. This is on a constant dollar basis not adjusted for inflation.

During this 10 year period many states had passed incentive programs that put Arizona at a disadvantage in being able to attract motion pictures. A trend that continues and is accelerating.

Currently MOPIC is in the fourth year of a five-year program. The program has worked as intended by attracting productions that would not have filmed in Arizona in the absence of the incentives. These projects have injected over $100 million dollars into the Arizona economy. This has helped to expand local businesses, induced companies to open offices in Arizona and created jobs in a very tough business environment.

The Commerce Department has released a report for the 2008 MOPIC program. The motion picture industry, while appreciative of their effort, thinks the report is narrow in scope and incomplete. The Commerce report does not include items and inputs that would have a material effect .

The industry has hired ESI to review the Commerce report and prepare an independent report to add items and change incomplete data that will show the true impact of the program. ESI is a very reputable research firm that the Department of Commerce has contracted to provide industry reports in the past.

Some of the flaws in the 2008 Commerce MOPIC report are:
- It does not account for the increase in NON-Qualified dollars and thusly the tax revenue that has come in to Arizona as a result of the program. This has under-reported the impact of the program by 29%

- It significantly under counts the number of employees paying taxes in Arizona as a result of the program. The DOC report found 730 total jobs while the ESI study found 2049 total jobs.

- It does not emphasize that $100 million dollars would not have been spent in the state in the absence of the program.

- The fiscal impact to the state according to the ESI report is $<837,279> NOT the $<6,324,023> as reported by Commerce.

The report by ESI includes these and others items that will provide a more complete picture of how the MOPIC program is impacting the State of Arizona.

It must also be stated that a number of areas that may have reduced the fiscal impact of the program to the general fund were not included because of the eminent vote on the State budget. Two very significant items not included are the impact of out-of-state hires (cast & crew) and payroll taxes paid and the taxes generated by the transfer of the tax credits from the time they are issued until they are redeemed.

These two items may end up showing that the program has a positive impact on the general fund.

It must be stated that the program when enacted was designed to help the film industry recover from a devastating fall in local production. It was further intended to help Arizona compete against other states that have passed incentive programs that put Arizona at a competitive disadvantage.

The program has had a very positive effect on the Arizona film community. Production dollars have risen by approximately 300% from 2005, the year preceding the enactment of the program. This has lead to expansion of existing companies and the creation of new jobs.

This has happened while the film industry has injected …dollars into the Arizona economy.

The film and production business is a multi-billion dollar industry. With our professional crew members and talent, diverse locations, spectacular weather and proximity to California, we should be a logical destination for film productions. The film incentive program has allowed Arizona to begin rebuilding the infrastructure, production personnel and reputation to attract motion pictures.

If the program is repealed, all of the progress the industry has made the last three years will be lost. The investments of companies and individuals that had counted on the program to help rebuild the industry could be put in jeopardy.

To add to the importance of this issue, I just learned that the entire budget of the Arizona State Film Office is now tied to the MOPIC budget. If the program is cut, the film office loses it’s funding.

I urge you to vote to keep the MOPIC program. It is good for Arizona and has a very limited impact on the General Fund.

Sincerely,