Capping Mich. movie makers 1 year later

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - It's been a year since Gov. Rick Snyder capped the tax incentive for filmmakers who shoot in Michigan to $25 million, but experts say some legislators are working toward raising it.

The governor's cap on tax incentives has affected the film industry. Filmmaker and rapper 50 Cent was the first to stop making movies in Michigan. "Avengers" and "Iron Man 3" weren't filmed in the state as planned because of the shaky future of incentives at the time.

"I've seen a lot of filmmakers stop making films and a lot of actors and actresses struggle for work," producer and actor Andre Flixx said.

The Flint native had difficulty finding work as an actor in Los Angeles, so he moved back home.

"I didn't find work until I came back home to Michigan, and that kind of slowed up when the tax breaks changed for us," he said.

"We were booking things, we were getting set and the governor's announcement came along and it was all cut out," Dave Lowing, of Lowing Light & Grip said. His company equips many large-production movies that shoot in West Michigan.

In 2010, Snyder announced the cap in efforts to balance the budget. He wanted more attention and finances to be focused on Pure Michigan, the state's tourism campaign, which he said shows a far better return on investment.

Currently, some Republican lawmakers are working to increase the cap, according to Michigan filmmakers.

"The trickle-down effect happens where you lose some of the work that comes here because they find less expensive places to work," Hugh Gall, actor and creative director, said. "Because of that, we've seen a little bit of a decrease in the films that are made here."

Economist David Zin crunched the numbers and published a report on the tax incentives. According to him, media production credits approved as part of the tax incentive were as follows:

• FY 2008-09: $37.5 million
• FY 2009-10: $100 million
• FY 2010-11: $125 million

Researchers show conflicting results when determining whether or not the tax incentive is effective.

Now that the governor has capped the total amount per year at $25 million, a new question has surfaced in the local movie industry.

"Are we going to have the capacity to build an endemic industry that can support the Disneys, The Universals, etc., or is it going to be just mid-sized to low budget Indie productions?" Tamaryn Tobian with the Media Arts Coalition of West Michigan said. "That's the question on the table."

Though many large movie makers have moved their projects to other states, some hometown companies are sticking it out.

"We decided to stay here no matter what," Flixx said. "We're going to make Michigan movies and hire Michigan actors and actresses regardless of what the governor wants to do."