LANSING – A
bill that would phase out the state’s film incentive program was significantly
broadened Tuesday to repeal statutory authority for the Michigan Film Office,
which long predates the state’s 2008 foray into using tax credits to attract
productions to the state, as well as the Film Advisory Council.
The change
clearly concerned the Film Office and the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation, which houses the office, and there was a sense after the meeting
that the move was not set in stone.
Created in
1979, the Film Office worked with several major productions prior to the debut
of the tax credit with some of the more notable early films being the first two
“Beverly Hills Cop” movies and “Midnight Run.” Senate Majority
Leader Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive), chair of the Government Operations
Committee, which approved the bill on a 3-2 party-line vote, said the state no
longer needs a separate line item to fund the film office.”
Meekhof said
he was willing to discuss whether some statutory authority needed to remain for
record-keeping purposes.
Asked if
Michigan should have a Film Office, he said, “Should they pursue films?
Sure. But we’re not going to do it out of a line item. We’re going to do it out
of MEDC.”
The upcoming
2015-16 fiscal year budget appropriates $654,800 for the Film Office.
Joel
Freeman, MEDC vice president of government affairs, said the MEDC has no
position on the bill, but does have concern about repealing the statutory
authority for the Film Office and commission. Meekhof asked why the MEDC could
not just absorb the film office staff and functions, but Freeman said there
needs to be statutory authority for specific staff for the program.
After the
meeting, Freeman said the concern also is without statutory authority for the
Film Office, there is no assurance that the Legislature will fund the staff for
the office.
“It
could be done, but you would need adequate funding and staffing for it, so we
would just need to make sure that the staffing and funding was provided for in
the budget.”
In a
statement, Film Office Commissioner Jenell Leonard warned against eliminating
the office. Leonard recently released a strategic plan for the office that
presumes the end of the incentive program, and one point Film Office defenders
made Tuesday was that the plan will struggle to work without dedicated staff to
implement it.
“Our
goal all along has been to attract film projects and foster growth for
Michigan’s creative industries. We’re in transition, life without
incentives,” Leonard said in a
statement. “Part of the transition has been to reach out to the Michigan
film industry and translate feedback into a strategic plan. We’ve done that.
The plan promotes the film industry in key public-private partnerships. There
has been a film office in Michigan since 1979, and every state has one for a
reason.”
Meekhof said
the state’s scaled-back version of the program has not worked.
Still, it
marks a change. In March, Meekhof, asked about the bill after it passed the
House, noted he sent the bill to Government Operations. He did not say that is
usually where bills go to die, but he did not have to do so given the
committee’s reputation as a burial ground for legislation disfavored by the
majority leader. “You saw what committee it went to,” he said then.
What
changed, was where the priorities of the state stand, Meekhof said.
“Other priorities.
Just we have other priorities,” he said.
Calvin
Hazelbaker, business agent for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts, said he was
“very surprised” at the move to end the Film Office.
“I
don’t know what they’re trying to achieve,” he said. “The state’s had
a film office for a long time preceding the incentive. All the other states in
our great country have them. What will we accomplish by being the lone state
that doesn’t have one?”
Hazelbaker
said the demise of the film incentive has frustrated workers, especially
considering the enactment of a law in December that seemed to assure the film
incentive would continue for several more years.
“That
lasted until January,” he said. “Whether or not you appreciate motion
pictures being made, you have to think about what does that say about the state
of Michigan and how they do business. Because promises were made, deals were
done.”
Asked if
industry workers will have to leave the state as a result of the bill, he said,
“Only if they want to work.”
Meekhof said
he still has to have conversations with House Speaker
Kevin Cotter (R-Mount Pleasant) about the bill, and acknowledged Governor
Rick Snyder was not fully on board.
Freeman said
he expected officials would have “a good conversation with the Senate, and
I think we’ll find a good resolution.”
This story
was published by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on www.gongwer.com
