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Film clips: As Georgia’s film industry grows, Hollywood fights for more tax breaks

Metro ATL

Film clips: As Georgia’s film industry grows, Hollywood fights for more tax breaks

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Hollywood wants to change the script on states like Georgia that have lured movie makers with lucrative tax breaks.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the film industry is pushing the state of California to do more to keep movie producers from looking elsewhere for filming locations. The Times found that other states like Georgia and Louisiana have awarded $1.5 billion in incentives in 2012, and there’s been a corresponding drop in top-earning films shot in California. The effort is being backed by both industry officials and labor unions, the report says. To read the full report on the push for more tax incentives in California, click here.

That news follows a previous LA Times story about financiers in various states using the law to sell the tax credits to investors. It’s a fascinating read that includes an interview with Ric Reitz, owner of Georgia Entertainment Credits. Reitz and other brokers sell tax credits to wealthy investors. The studios are able to access the credits faster and the investors get a tax break. You should definitely read it if you want to understand more about the economics of financing films with tax credits. To read it, click here.

Georgians are planning on reaping the benefits of the tax incentives in 2014. According to Fox 5, there’s a massive movie studio in production in Fayette County that will be known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios. “The complex will feature five state-of-the-art movie sound stages on 288 acres,” the Fox 5 story says. “It will be capable of handling big budget productions.”

To read that story, click here.

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