Discussions on prices in Tinseltown continued on Wednesday with several of the main Hollywood studio leaders weighing on Donald Trump's proposed solution to fight against gap.
“I think that in terms of production that leaves here, it is almost more to the question of California, honestly, than an American problem. So, even if it is true, so a lot of production has left the United States, it is even worse for California, and there are many people, including our companies, who work with the government of the State and try to find billing invoices, “said the global, CEO, Sono Pictures, said during the world panel of Ravi Ahuja. A global panel, from Sono Pictures, during the conference panel, the Sono Pictures, during a global panel, of Sono Pictures, during a global panel, of Sono Pictures. Entertainment industry on Wednesday.
Ahuja was joined by HBO and Max's content chief, Casey Bloys, responsible for the premium video and the Amazon MGM MIKE HOPKINS studios, of the universal studio group Pearlena Igbokwe, and The diplomat Creator Debora Cahn.
The group has agreed unanimously with the assessment of Ahuja according to which California has been the hardest affected by the massive exodus of production in international territories in recent years, and it is unlikely that prices will help. Instead, they added to the Choir of Voices of the entertainment industry by insisting that more lucrative tax incentives would go much more to solve the problem.
“If the incentives are stronger in the United States and they are in many states, we will shoot here. I think what is often forgotten in our business, are the margins are quite modest,” said Ahuja. “In any studio, there is something like 10%, so it is not a company that is based on a huge profit well. And producers will tend to locate themselves in an effective place. So the more we can make the United States effective, the better.”
Hopkins conceded that a large part of the talent basin is already in Southern California, which would make it a much more practical destination for production if the economy made sense. For the moment, they don't do it.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has already proposed more than to double the current state ceiling on his film and televised tax credit program at $ 750 million per year. This proposal should be approved this summer and would greatly help to welcome production in the state. However, as union representatives and state legislators have also pointed out, an increase in funding will not solve the problem.
The studio chiefs also discussed some of the limifies of the Californian program which contributed to the decline in state production. Unlike other territories, California's tax incentive also works as a job program that directly links the admissibility to the number of jobs that a production will create and consider wages higher than the line to be qualified expenses.
Since there is a ceiling on global funding, the California program works like a lottery. This differs from states such as Georgia and international territories like Canada, where there is no ceiling on incentives, effectively guaranteeing the tax credit to all qualified projects. Bloys and Hopkins highlighted the uncertainty that the lottery system creates as another means of deterrence for major studios.
“You have to get into a lottery, and you don't know if your show will get tax relief or not. For uncertainty to be very difficult,” said Bloys. “If California would aim at this, it would make a big difference, because the entertainment industry is based here, and there is a lot of infrastructure here, but uncertainty around this incentive has been problematic to plan [for]. “”
Hopkins says that he would also like California legislators to plan to open the door to the costs of the line to be considered qualified expenses. Some territories have hesitated to include costs of costs higher than the line in their incentive programs, as this raises difficult issues for legislators. Do taxpayers really want to have the impression of financing Tom Cruise's salary?
But, Hopkins maintains: “It actually stimulates the economy, because they will obtain their costs, no matter where they are going.”
Whatever the solution, the group also rejected the concept that all International production is negative. There are many cases where production should be based abroad, regardless of financial incentives, they say. The ultimate concern is that a largely applied rate would make it unnecessarily difficult.
“We are going abroad because we have a show in London, and we want castles and palaces, and we don't have enough here,” joked Cahn. “I mean that the installations here and the talent swimming pool here remain unrivaled. We have had great experiences abroad, but you still do not get the kind of designers, crews, craftsmen that you make here, anywhere else. So it's always my first choice. But if you need Buckingham Palace, you have to go there.”
Although the solution is not clear, no one disputes that the production of fugue has harmed in the United States, in particular California. Production in Los Angeles is still down almost 40% compared to the five -year averages. Two bills that have made their way through the state's legislature were a head of hope for financially tense entertainment workers, but calls for federal intervention also increased recently.
The White House has already resumed Trump's initial claim that he would impose 100% prices on all films made outside the United States, but the president has promised to pay more attention to the problem in the hope of finding a solution.
More developments are expected as soon as possible while Hollywood reacts to Trump's interest. In particular, the members of the AMP board of directors, including the best CEOs and other representatives, plan to meet on Friday, the next steps that should be a subject, sources said. The board of directors includes representatives of Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Amazon, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros.
