Sometimes news just hits you like a ton of bricks.
For those of you who have been keeping track, the midterm elections put the final nail in the coffin of my hopes of re-starting my career in North Carolina. How does that work, exactly? Well, with the Republican majority now set to take office in January of 2015, the referendum to extend the state's tax incentive for film production is about to disappear. And an enormous amount of folks are about to be out of work.
What's shocking about this is how little support the state has shown to my little town, the "Hollywood of the East". The entire process can be a bit complicated, but it essentially boils down to this: a production selects studio lots and locations on which to film. When the shoot is over, the state returns 25% of the total cost of renting/using that space to the production company with no strings attached. 25%!!!! Unfortunately, this isn't a permanent placement - the state legislature simply votes to keep extending this every few years.
In nearby Georgia, the system becomes a bit more convoluted, where the tax break is only returned to the original company when they refer a second company to come in and use the space... but their return is only paid on 85 cents to the dollar. In contrast to NC, however, this is a permanent fixture - and that makes it both a risk and a guarantee. But with new studio space opening in such close proximity to Wilmington, this growth has slowly been cannibalizing NC's placement in the hierarchy of desirable East-Coast locations. And that makes it all the more frustrating that NC lawmakers are refusing to see the economic benefit of giving tax relief to an industry which puts MILLIONS of dollars into states' budgets.
Because productions will choose their locations 6 to 8 months out before a shoot, the prospect that if a referendum isn't passed to maintain the break by the time they actually arrive there intrinsically hurts the state's sustainability - and the workforce of film professionals surrounding he area who rely on the regularity of productions moving in and out every few months. Film = jobs. After 7 years of an economic slump, that simple equation shouldn't be an afterthought.
Couple all this with the heinous lack of safety protocols in place which led to the tragic death of Sarah Jones in Georgia earlier this year and there's no discernable reason I can think of why NC wouldn't be lobbying hard to maintain its reputation and resources which has made it famous over the last 20 years. The film community I grew into didn't take those kinds of risks. I was ready to make the move and re-start (I even sent a friend down to live there until I arrived) - and then the election results came in. A casting agency has already jumped ship, so that when the change takes effect in January, they might have time to re-coup their lost business. There's talk that the entire Screen Gems infrastructure might leave their lots behind.
What the hell do I do now? My best shot at working full-time just told me not to bother moving to Georgia and NC just abandoned its foothold. All of a sudden Pink Floyd's The Wall is inviting me to bask in the depressing thrum of its lost protagonist's mental anguish. I sure could use an ally.
Hey You! Don't tell me there's no hope at all. Together we stand, divided we fall.