Beth Marchant has a good article over at StudioDaily on the development of the New York State 30-percent (35-perecent upstate) tax credit that’s now in place for productions doing their post work in New York. This tax credit is a unique add-on compared to California and other states. But is it working? Marchant says yes, pointing out how new facilities, such as Mr. X Inc. decided to open offices here “weeks after the higher post credit went into effect.”
Marchant also notes that PNYA (Post New York Alliance) also has its eye on fostering training and education, especially upstate which continues to suffer a deep employment crisis. PNYA stalwarts such as Company 3’s Stefan Sonnenfeld have been key in pushing for the training, which potentially will create a sort of ‘back office’ to NYC post houses, running the renderfarms and other operations that a growing post vfx scene requires.
Here’s a taste of Marchant’s article. You can read the rest here.
“According to a 2012 report by the Motion Picture Association of America, the film and television industry grew by nearly 25% in New York between 2008 and 2011 as a direct result of the Empire State Film Production Tax Credit. For films and television episodics, pilots and mini series shooting anywhere in New York State, the credit returns a healthy 30% refund on all qualified costs incurred during production. New York, however, still lags behind Los Angeles, where roughly double the number of film and TV productions shoot annually.
But California does not offer a separate credit devoted solely to post-production, and New York does. It is this difference, say those closest to the Empire State Film Post Production Credit, that could eventually put New York City’s post business on a par with Los Angeles, Vancouver and London. And last July, when Governor Cuomo signed legislation that tripled the initial post credit from 10% to 30%, giving an extra incentive to those posting upstate with a 35% credit, that future seemed even more certain.
The Post New York Alliance (PNYA), the initial force behind the post credit, formed in December 2009. The idea, says Yana Collins Lehman, a PNYA executive board member and managing director at post accounting firm Trevanna Post, was to move away from a bundled production and post credit and let New York post facilities benefit from finishing films of every budget, no matter where they were shot. “From 2004 to 2010, New York had all its stakeholders working concertedly to put together the production credit,” says Lehman. “But post-production wasn’t getting any traction, so 14 facilities and other entities came together, including the Local 700 Editor’s Union. We paid dues, hired a lobbyist and went up to Albany to start lobbying…”
