Myth

Fact

Film incentives are too expensive; we can’t afford them right now.

Our film incentive is a loan provided by the banks, guaranteed by the state.  The state doesn’t spend a single dollar.

Loaning money to films is too risky.

New Mexico has a loan program which has loaned $198 million to films for over 6 years and has never had a single default. We have based our program on theirs, adding even more safeguards to it.

Other states are losing money on film incentives.

Other states spend millions of dollars in subsidies to attract films and then seek to recoup those losses through tax revenue. Delaware’s program costs nothing upfront and will generate significant, surplus tax revenue, $100 million per year.

The film incentives go to celebrities and producers who don’t pay taxes here.

Our legislation requires that they file W2s for the income they receive. These individuals are typically millionaires, making for a substantial increase in our personal income tax revenue. No other state currently requires this, but the industry is willing to accept it.

Nobody in Hollywood wants to make movies in Delaware.

Delaware’s diverse landscape is ideal for film-making. We’ve already been offered many films with stars such as Kevin Spacey, Michael Douglas, and Jennifer Connolly under this program.

Film jobs aren’t real jobs.

The average film industry job pays $82,400 a year.

Film jobs are temporary.

Like the construction industry, the film industry relies on projects. Film projects typically take 6 to 9 months to produce. Our program would attract more than 20 productions a year, enough to sustain a $300 million industry and 13,000 jobs year-round. Unlike the construction industry, films are made in all seasons.

Film jobs are transient, unpredictable and unsustainable.

Our program creates a predictable financing structure for the industry: a revolving loan facility that is self-sustaining. That facility would attract projects year after year, ensuring that the people employed will always have work. But it also creates a new market which will attract billions of dollars in investment for the construction of sound stages, production facilities, and post-production houses. New Mexico’s program has attracted $2 billion in construction projects from the film industry to their state.

We can’t predict the impact of the film industry in Delaware.

47 other states currently have film incentive programs and most have commissioned independent studies to determine their impact. Every study has reported significant and instantaneous job creation and economic impact.

Other states are reducing their programs because film incentives aren’t working.

Many states experienced severe budget shortfalls in the past two years. Those with film programs had to look long and hard at whether or not those programs should continue.

We do not believe the film industry should be subsidized. However, nearly every state chose to continue their existing program or expand it because of the extraordinary results those subsidies provided.

A few states initially decreased their programs, like Florida in 2007, only to re-expand them this year. Several states, including Alaska and California, began their first program in part to address the need for economic stimulus.

We should invest in a predictable industry we understand, like manufacturing. If we invest in them, we know they’ll create permanent, real jobs.

Manufacturing, while a vital part of America’s economy, has been struggling for decades. Entertainment, with the film industry at its helm, is one of the US’ top three exports and growing.

In Delaware we’ve seen that years of investment in a manufacturing plant can be wiped out in a single year. The film industry offers a diversification of investment by providing a solution for an entire industry, rather than a single, large company.

Now is not the time to take a risk on a new industry.

Every single major Delaware industry has taken a hit in the economic downturn, whether manufacturing, finance, tourism, health sciences or agriculture.

The film industry, on the other hand, has been experiencing record breaking months in sales. January saw the industry’s first billion month at the box office.

Because the financing industry has been hit so hard, there is less financing available for films. This means that while demand is skyrocketing, the supply of films has rapidly shrunk. Now is the ideal time to try a new program as films that Delaware financed would have few competitors at the box office.

Delaware has successfully attracted new industries in the past. Both the credit card and bioscience industries were new to Delaware when legislation was put in place to support their growth, and Delaware quickly became an industry leader in both.