When The Break-Up, the new comedy filmed in Chicago, had its local premiere at the Music Box on Memorial Day, Governor Blagojevich and Illinois Film Office managing director Brenda Sexton were celebrating more than the attendance of Vince and Jen. Blagojevich was also presiding over a signing ceremony for legislation that will extend and vastly expand the state’s film production tax credit. Sexton says that since the bill was passed by the General Assembly early last month some of Hollywood’s most successful producers have come calling. But despite the hoopla, a few nagging issues remain unresolved–like whether the credit is worth the money it costs and whether it will create the jobs it promises.
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To keep up, Blagojevich sponsored and the General Assembly passed legislation in 2003 providing a 25 percent tax credit on Illinois corporate income tax–up to $6,250 for every Illinois resident hired to work on a local movie or television production. “At the end of a production, [the producers] give us a two-foot-high mountain of invoices, and we go through those invoices,” says Sexton. “The film office service–it’s all about tax credits. It’s all about numbers. That’s what keeps you on the playing field.”
The new bill sweetens the deal for filmmakers even further. In the past the tax credit applied just to labor costs, but this year’s legislation offers a 20 percent tax credit on all in-state production costs, with no cap. It also lowers the bar for eligibility. Previously production companies had to pay at least $100,000 in salaries to Illinois residents in order to qualify. Now that’s been changed to $100,000 in any in-state spending, or $50,000 for productions of 29 minutes or less.
The bill swept through the senate in April, but Dunkin and a coalition of black lawmakers stalled it in the house, insisting that the extension be limited to one year so they could see how many minorities got jobs. As Dunkin dug in his heels, folks at the film office began to sweat–moviemakers were talking about moving projects to states such as Massachusetts, which has a generous new film tax credit program. “We clearly lost Daddy’s Girl, a Disney project that’s now leaning toward Boston,” Sexton says. “Disney would call and ask about the tax credits and I could only tell them ‘It’s in the house.’”
For his part, Dunkin wants to see how many jobs the bill creates before he agrees to extend it next year. “They’ll have to come back to us,” Dunkin says. “We’ll be watching.”
