A State May Pay for a Movie, if It Likes Its Message

Among the states that began underwriting film and television production with heavy subsidies over the past half-decade — 44 states had some sort of incentives by last year, 28 of them involving tax credits — at least a handful are giving new scrutiny to a question that was politely overlooked in the early excitement: What kind of films are taxpayers paying for? Content requirements touch a hot button in Hollywood, where filmmakers are on alert for anything that reeks of censorship.