Untitled - the ultimate blog

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Mauro Cutrufo, Rome’s head of tourism, believes the recession is an opportunity to push grandiose new schemes: marinas to match Monte Carlo, golf courses like those in Spain and theme parks to rival Disneyland. That is probably a mistake. However the world’s economy fares, tourists are unlikely to abandon Mickey Mouse in favour of a Roman theme park. But foreigners will always want to visit the Colosseum and the Vatican museums, or make a pilgrimage to Paris to see the Mona Lisa. Copyright © 2009 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved. -93-
America's subsidies for filmmaking The money shot Aug 13th 2009 From The Economist print edition Why government handouts to Hollywood are growing WITH its deserts and its slight air of decay, New Mexico is a good place to shoot a post-apocalyptic action film. But the state’s natural charms alone would probably not have been enough to lure the makers of “The Book of Eli”. Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, who are producing the Warner Bros film, say they were particularly enticed by New Mexico’s generous production subsidies and interest-free loans. All but seven of America’s 50 states now offer incentives to lure filmmakers. Some states refund a portion of in-state production costs, which may include actors’ salaries. Others issue rebates against state taxes that can be sold to local residents. The club is growing quickly. California, which resisted subsidies for years, recently approved its first clutch of recipients. Kentucky is considering its first application. With banks and hedge funds virtually out of the game, state governments are now the most important external source of funding in the film business. Public largesse has led to some odd artistic decisions. “Gran Torino”, a story that originally revolved around Minnesota’s distinctive community of Hmong immigrants, was transplanted to Michigan to take advantage of that state’s subsidies, which can amount to 42% of production costs. The forthcoming “Battle: Los Angeles” will be filmed mostly in Baton Rouge, Louisiana—a reversal of the tradition by which southern California stands in for everywhere else. Studies commissioned by the states tend to show a healthy return on investment. Filmmakers have certainly learned to follow the money: California’s share of big-studio productions dropped from two-thirds in 2003 to less than one-third in 2008 as its politicians dithered over subsidies. It is also likely that subsidies have helped America compete with Europe and Canada, although the weak dollar has probably done more to restrain what is known as “flyaway production”. The continuing bidding war is likely to result in diminished returns for the states. Michigan’s subsidies, once considered improbably lavish, may soon be matched by Washington, DC. Alaska has approved a 44% rebate, although production companies must film in rural areas during the state’s gruelling winter to qualify for the full sum. Whatever the benefit to the states, however, the subsidies are becoming ever more important to Hollywood. But as state budgets tighten, a backlash is gathering. This summer Indiana and Wisconsin reduced their rebates. A bill to do the same is before the Michigan legislature. In the Midwest the surge in foreclosures and the collapse of traditional industries has hardened hearts. Jud Gilbert, a Michigan state senator who opposes film subsidies, points out that if he could offer a 42% rebate on car production, that industry would not be in crisis. Yet a broad retreat from film subsidies is unlikely. Some of the first places to offer rebates, such as New Mexico and Louisiana, now have impressive sound stages and a deep pool of production workers. States that want to compete with them will have to be extremely generous. And big studios and independent outfits are sharply trimming their film output in response to the credit crunch and a faltering DVD market. As the supply of work shrinks, the squabbling will only intensify. Copyright © 2009 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved. -94-
Page 2 and 3:
Search Requires subscription Econom
Page 4 and 5:
Politics this week Aug 13th 2009 Fr
Page 6 and 7:
Business this week Aug 13th 2009 Fr
Page 8 and 9:
KAL's cartoon Aug 13th 2009 From Th
Page 10 and 11:
Asia’s rebound has several causes
Page 12 and 13:
democratic region. But Brazil’s l
Page 14 and 15:
World trade and commercial aircraft
Page 16 and 17:
Galileo, four centuries on As impor
Page 18 and 19:
Correction: America's sex laws Aug
Page 20 and 21:
SIR - You mentioned the slaughter d
Page 22 and 23:
Professor of the history of art Sch
Page 24 and 25:
Their arrival coincides with, and i
Page 26 and 27:
and integrated well.) Peru has beco
Page 28 and 29:
Clean energy in the Midwest Greenin
Page 30 and 31:
The economics of natural gas Drowni
Page 32 and 33:
meetings on health reform planned f
Page 34 and 35:
Drought in Texas Not a cloud Aug 13
Page 36 and 37:
Rich animals The dog will have his
Page 38 and 39:
twice the national average. But it
Page 40 and 41:
international institutions and the
Page 42 and 43:
Energy v environment in Canada Bomb
Page 44 and 45:
further sanctions. Yet it is doubtf
Page 46 and 47: egistered voters are frauds. Yet Mr
Page 48 and 49: Australia's opposition His own wors
Page 50 and 51: Taiwan's typhoon Taiwan's disastrou
Page 52 and 53: Banyan The Burmese road to ruin Aug
Page 54 and 55: Fatah and the Palestinians Fresh fa
Page 56 and 57: Iran and human rights The crackdown
Page 58 and 59: Security in Iraq A return to the ba
Page 60 and 61: Ethiopia's resilient prime minister
Page 62 and 63: America and Africa Hillary (not Bil
Page 64 and 65: Southern Italy's ills The messy mez
Page 66 and 67: Copyright © 2009 The Economist New
Page 68 and 69: Italy's vigilantes On the beat Aug
Page 70 and 71: crisis-driven entanglement in banks
Page 72 and 73: colluded with the Russian patriarch
Page 74 and 75: Prospects for recovery Mervyn's rea
Page 76 and 77: Conservatives will be fighting over
Page 78 and 79: advanced to scale down much. If the
Page 80 and 81: Scotland's capital and recession Pa
Page 82 and 83: Edinburgh festivals Fringe-onomics
Page 84 and 85: Bagehot Love in the time of swine f
Page 86 and 87: Correction: Teaching in Britain Aug
Page 88 and 89: Their aim is more modest. It was sp
Page 90 and 91: At a review conference next year, s
Page 92 and 93: All this would not matter much, wer
Page 94 and 95: with state aid. In an average year
Page 98 and 99: Online auctions Mind the pennies Au
Page 100 and 101: hire in anticipation; they will wai
Page 102 and 103: Face value Top of his game Aug 13th
Page 104 and 105: Emerging Asian economies On the reb
Page 106 and 107: y 70%. One reason why Asia’s emer
Page 108 and 109: industries with subsidies and under
Page 110 and 111: Of the three firms, AIG represents
Page 112 and 113: Assessing quantitative easing Muzzl
Page 114 and 115: All these rules failed and the sche
Page 116 and 117: Retail bonds in Europe Small fry wa
Page 118 and 119: A current-account surplus that has
Page 120 and 121: politicians still seem fixated by e
Page 122 and 123: In an influential early example of
Page 124 and 125: Thinking space Another way to encou
Page 126 and 127: Detecting habitable new worlds The
Page 128 and 129: The history of science Kepler's wor
Page 130 and 131: Engels (whose name resembles the wo
Page 132 and 133: prose, having gone from Uighur to G
Page 134 and 135: anks to hold more capital, the flow
Page 136 and 137: Football and economics Game for gee
Page 138 and 139: There are two intellectual bugbears
Page 140 and 141: she continued to lurk, roiling the
Page 142 and 143: Output, prices and jobs Aug 13th 20
Page 144 and 145: The Economist commodity-price index
Page 146 and 147:
Trade, exchange rates, budget balan
Page 148 and 149:
Markets Aug 13th 2009 From The Econ
Page 150:
Office vacancy rates Aug 13th 2009
show all

Untitled - the ultimate blog

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?