| Middle Atlantic Region: Tough Competition |
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| Written by Johan Kharabi | |||||
| Wednesday, 11 June 2008 | |||||
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PENNSYLVANIA Pennsylvania offers a 25 percent tax credit to films that spend at least 60 percent of their total budget in the state. The new tax credit program replaced the previous sales tax exemption and although it is capped at $75 million for each fiscal year (which ends at the conclusion of this month, June 30, 2008), there is no per-project cap.
The Film Tax Credit, titled “Creativity in Focus”, is available for a variety of productions, including but not limited to that of a feature film, television commercial, or television pilot. As already mentioned, at least 60 percent of the project’s budget must be used for production expenses, such as costs of construction, editing, wardrobe, or facilities rental, incurred within the state and approved by the Pennsylvania Film Office. Wages earned in the state and subject to state taxes are also considered Pennsylvania production expenses. “The Film Tax Credit has been very good for the state,” says Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, who represents the region of southwestern Pennsylvania. “It has been a successful and busy year — the busiest we’ve ever had in southwestern Pennsylvania. We’ve had a total of nine films shoot in the area, including DreamWorks’ She’s Out of My League.” Keezer notes that Pittsburgh and the surrounding region attract a lot of production due to its diversity of locations. “We have practically everything here. We can double as Paris, Ukraine or even New York City.” Outside of the sprawling cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, you will find plenty of rolling countryside, historic architecture, rugged woodlands and beautiful Victorian towns. In addition to attracting a great deal of production, Pennsylvania's strong tax incentives have resulted in expanding studio growth. In Montgomery County, construction has already begun on Norristown Studios at Logan Square, a 280,000 square-foot production facility that will house eight soundstages ranging from 2,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet; column-free, 40-foot clear height under grid; and complete post-production facilities. The complex is being built to accommodate film, high-def TV and digital camera productions. In addition, there will be 180,000 square feet of support space to include production offices, green room, dressing and screening rooms, water tank, catering services, lighting and grip equipment, mill shop, Internet broadcasting facilities and a vocational school to be used by local universities to train film/TV and media students. Furthermore, filming throughout the state is rather straightforward; use of state-owned property is entirely cost free, with no department or agency within the state charging any fee outside of the actual costs incurred by the affected department or agency.
Since its inception, the Pennsylvania Film Office has seen plenty of production, both in TV and film. The state has been featured as the location for over 150 American feature films, like Touchstone’s National Treasure, DreamWorks’ The Lovely Bones, and Paramount Pictures’ Shooter; and has been chosen as the primary location for several TV series, including Spike TV’s The Kill Point, FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and CBS’ Cold Case. Director M. Night Shyamalan recently began principal photography in Philadelphia for his latest film, The Happening, for 20th Century Fox.  |
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Iain Blair
James Thompson
Dyana Carmella
