Wow, did you know that you could stimulate your state’s economy by giving an industry a reason for selecting your state? Florida knows. http://www.filminflorida.com/ifi/incentives.asp (Check the effective date) It’s an amazing benefit to the entire community as it creates jobs and increases spending. Some may call it an incentive. Florida suffered a $113 Billion shortfall in 2009. I find it impressive that, from a very conservative state, they found a way to slash the budget and encourage growth. Nice work.
A common Colorado reason for not backing a film incentive program is that some view Colorado as a “destination” location. I think this means that Colorado is so gosh darn neat that people will flock here regardless of the cost. The people who make these statements must assume that filmmakers are completely incompetent. Some are. No doubt. They do hire smart people though. It doesn’t take much of a smart person to understand that if you receive a base 20% tax credit on your money spent, you have a lot more money to spend.
So here comes Florida doing math. It’s crazy right? Florida is at least as desirable a “destination” as Colorado. They know there will be interest in filming Florida and now they sweeten the pot. Wanna guess how many applicants applied for the incentive? Go find out. Now take that number and think about how much money is not being spent in Colorado.
Is anyone in Colorado paying attention? Hickenlooper? Maes? McInnis? You can win votes by finding a way to create jobs. This will create jobs. This will increase the State’s coffers. This will improve the State’s economy.
