Hooray for Hollywood
From the National Journal, word that Democrats will by helping out the “struggling” film industry:
The Senate bill includes a tax break worth up to $246 million over 11 years for investors in bigger-budget movie projects that don’t necessarily qualify for incentives currently. The provision is backed by firms like the Walt Disney Co., and the industry trade group the Motion Picture Association of America, according to aides and lobbyists.
….
But a problem arises for pictures that cost $30 million or more, which the option to instead use bonus depreciation attempts to resolve.
It probably wouldn’t benefit blockbusters that take years to produce, a lobbyist said, given that, to benefit, a firm’s asset must be placed in service — hitting the theaters or video market — during that time.
Of course, a tax break is a bit better than direct use of our tax dollars, as in the case of part of the $4 billion that went to Chrysler back during the fall being used for product placement in the upcoming Terminator film. From worldcarfans.com:
The American automaker recently received $4 billion in a taxpayer-funded government bailout. Chrysler was reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy, and would not have been able to pay their suppliers without the loan. Still in a dangerous position, the privately-owned company cut over a third of their employees.
Chrysler was shut out of many product placement deals recently. General Motors inked a deal with The Transformers live-action films. Ford got in on the action with theirKnight Rider deal, featuring a Mustang, Flex, and F-150.
In completely unrelated news, the top 10 films last week grossed a combined $96 million, and revenues are up over 20% for January last year, while attendence was up 16%.
Poor, poor Hollywood.
