Disney/ABC Places Moratorium On Louisiana Film Projects
It's not a shock that the motion picture and television production industry was going to react with disfavor over Governor Jindal's signing of the state's film tax credit cap law. Any change in policy that makes millions of dollars in potential profit disappear is going to get noticed from the small production houses up to the big productions houses. In this case, it's one of the biggest TV, film, and movie producers in the world.
According to a report by the Louisiana Radio Network, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne has learned of a moratorium that has been placed on Louisiana film production by Disney/ABC. Dardenne feels this is just first of many dominoes that will start to fall in what could be a very detrimental situation for Louisiana's film and TV production industry.
It's distressing that that's been the reaction and I hope we can alleviate some concerns at least down the road we're going to try to fix things.
Dardenne went on to say that another aspect of Louisiana's film tax credit situation is how these tax credits are paid. They are paid on the "backend" which brings concerns as to whether or not the state will even honor the tax credit when it comes time to redeem it.
The changes in Louisiana's film tax credits were made because of budgetary concerns. Those who were for the changes felt the tax credits were far more costly than the jobs and taxes they created. Dardenne acknowledged that fact,
It's troubling obviously and I've been a supporter of the industry and actually called for some changes in the tax credit laws because of the amount of money it was costing the state.
The new plan is troubling in its own right. Many believe the way the legislation is written it will not stand up to any challenge in court. That is if any film company or production house wants to even bother with challenging the law. They may find it simpler to just avoid Louisiana and go shoot their projects in another state.