This past weekend, moviegoers flocked to see the new civil war between two Avengers, who first slugged it out back in 2011 in Cleveland, of all places.
Marvel action flicks and Cleveland play into another battle between two seemingly friendly yet definitely opposing forces, as a pair of conflicting bills compete to determine how Ohio handles Hollywood.
“There’s a House bill and a Senate bill that were introduced a few weeks back to raise the tax credit for filming in Ohio,” says John Daugherty, president of Film Columbus (Greater Columbus Film Commission). “One is good for the state; one’s not good for the state.”
The Ohio Motion Picture tax incentive provides a refundable tax credit to eligible productions of 25% off in-state costs, as well as 35% back on wages spent on Ohio residents. Films, music videos, commercials, digital and television programming are all eligible for the tax credit, as long as they spend at least $300,000 in the state.
“The Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit as it sits right now is $20 million year,” says Daugherty. “If a film comes into Ohio and they spend a million dollars in the state, if they use Ohio equipment and Ohio-based crew, they could get up to $300,000 back.”
“It’s a good incentive, for sure,” he says. “It’s really competitive.”
While Daugherty recognizes the value in the incentive, he sees limitations as well. In the last fiscal year, Ohio burned through that $20 million within three months. Daugherty believes one of the problems is the lack of a per-project cap, allowing one or two big-budget films to eat through the entire year’s funds. He would prefer a structure for the incentive that would not only create a more long-term benefit to the state, but would open up opportunities across the entire state, rather than inadvertently allotting the bulk of the funds to one market.
“The Senate bill calls for an $80 million cap per year, with a $5 million cap per project,” he explains. “This means no production can come in and take more than $5 million, no matter what their budget is.”
Daugherty sees this as a good start, but the commission hopes for better.
“We are proposing a couple things,” he says. “One is that the cap per project be raised to $8 million, just to attract a little bit of a larger film. Once you get up in the $20 million range for film, you’re getting bigger talent, you’re getting higher profile actors and directors, that kind of thing.”
He thinks there’s more that can be done to benefit Ohioans, as well.
“We also want to create a bonus for production companies that live in Ohio,” he explains. “What that does is it keeps some of that money in Ohio year round, and it keeps something like Marvel from coming in and eating up all the tax credit and then leaving.”
If the Senate bill is imperfect, the House bill poses bigger problems, says Daugherty.
“The House bill is the one that is not good for the whole state,” he says. “It calls for $75 million cap per year, but no cap per project. If you think about it, one large Marvel film could come to Cleveland, shoot for 30 days, take it all and leave. That’s not good for the state.”
He says the Senate bill should come up for a vote in September, but the House bill has already landed with the Ways and Means Committee.
“The last thing we want is for this to sneak through under everybody’s radar,” Daugherty says.
Much of Ohio shares Daugherty’s thinking.
“I’ve spoken with the film commissioners in Dayton and Youngstown and have started talks with the one in Cincinnati to ensure that we are all on the same page,” he says.
Daugherty is doubtful that the Senate bill would have the support of the film commission of Cleveland, though, because of that city’s connection to Marvel. But for the rest of the state, Daugherty is convinced that the House bill is inferior.
“The Senate bill would disperse the money throughout the state a little better,” he says. “You wouldn’t have two big films coming in, you would have twenty smaller films coming in. If the Senate bill passes, that really makes Ohio a big player in the country for tax credits.”
Read more from Hope at MADDWOLF and listen to her weekly horror movie podcast, FRIGHT CLUB.