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 Despite a major effort by Los Angeles over the last two years
to lure film production back to where it started, producers
continue to make big-budget movies elsewhere, saying they get
better tax breaks and subsidies outside of Hollywood.
As a result, the summer's movies come from all over the globe.
Warner Bros. filmed "Wonder Woman" and "King Arthur" in Britain,
where the Time Warner Inc studio owns a large production space.
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's movie studio chose Australia for
"Alien: Covenant." Walt Disney Co's Marvel Studios rolled its
cameras in Georgia for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," one of
six superhero movies it has filmed near Atlanta.
"The support we get in Georgia is tremendous," Marvel Studios
President Kevin Feige said in an interview. "We're certainly
doing many of our biggest films there well through this year and
into next year."
Twenty-five years ago, most big-budget films were filmed
primarily in Los Angeles. Since then, to lure production,
locations across the United States and around the globe have
begun offering tax credits or rebates of up to 40 percent of
local production spending, a sizable savings on action films
that cost up to $250 million to make.
Thirty-two U.S. states and dozens of foreign countries now offer
tax credits or rebates, plus other benefits such as waivers of
permit fees.
Along with subsidies, the small, former Soviet country of
Georgia offers another perk to filmmakers.
"We have many derelict, abandoned small villages or factories.
They are mostly state-owned still, and you can easily just blow
(them) up," said Sophio Bendiashvili, head of the country's film
rebate program, at a conference last month hosted by the
Association of Film Commissioners International.
In most cases, neither studios nor the filming locations will
disclose specific details of subsidies granted, but executives
acknowledge that they are a key factor in deciding where to
film.
The economic value of subsidies for the locations offering them
remains under debate. Proponents argue they attract jobs and
spending that outweigh their costs, while critics say the
benefits are overstated and the incentives divert taxpayer money
from other needs. Some states that used to offer subsidies,
including Michigan and Louisiana, have stopped doing so or pared
them back substantially.
Still, California decided in 2014 to sweeten its own subsidies
in an attempt to lure production back. The results have been
mixed. Many more television shows are now being filmed in the
state, but it still struggles to attract the mega-budget action
movies that hit screens from May through the U.S. Labor Day
holiday in early September.
One of Hollywood's biggest stars, actor and producer Dwayne
Johnson, moved his HBO TV series "Ballers" from Miami to the Los
Angeles area after securing a California tax break. Johnson said
he would like to film his big movies there, too.
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"On the TV side, the incentives are fantastic," Johnson said in an
interview. "On the film side, there is a lot of room for
improvement."
Johnson's upcoming movie for Paramount Pictures, a remake of the TV
show "Baywatch" about California lifeguards, was filmed on Tybee
Island, Georgia, with help from tax credits.
Hollywood used to have a firm grip on film production because of its
infrastructure, which includes numerous sound stages as well as
specialized equipment and a large network of experienced crew
members, actors and extras.
Increasingly, other locations such as the state of Georgia are
offering good production facilities and trained personnel, though
producing outside Los Angeles still often requires flying in some
key workers.
"You have to think of these productions as three-legged stools,"
said Mary Ann Hughes, Disney's vice president of film production
planning. "You need a local crew base, local infrastructure, and the
production incentives."
California offers a 20 percent credit for feature films, applicable
to $100 million in spending. Some costs receive an additional 5
percent. The state does not apply the credit toward one large chunk
of movie budgets - the salaries of actors, directors and producers -
as other locations do.
Since upping the subsidies, Hollywood has landed two forthcoming
big-budget films. Disney's adaptation of children's book "A Wrinkle
in Time" received an $18 million credit for $85 million in spending,
and an untitled Paramount release was awarded $22 million for $102
million in spending.
But for most big-budget films, says Paul Audley, president of
Hollywood-area film office FilmLA, "it simply doesn't make economic
sense for them to come back."
Some officials in California say the increase in television and
middle-budget film production is evidence the higher subsidies have
been effective. The incentives have brought 11 TV series back to the
state since 2015.
"It really is working. It is keeping a lot of people employed, and
that is our goal," said Amy Lemisch, executive director of the
California Film Commission.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy
in Los Angeles, Zachary Fagenson in Miami, and Byron Kaye in Syndey;
Editing by Sue Horton and Jonathan Oatis)
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