States Weigh Cuts in Hollywood Subsidies

Government subsidies for film and television productions proliferated in flush times as more than 40 states competed for entertainment work. Those subsidies face an uncertain future as new governors and lawmakers, many of them fiscal conservatives, join incumbents in trying to balance budgets without losing jobs.

Tax credits for Hollywood were recently expanded in Florida and North Carolina but are under fresh scrutiny in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Mexico, all of which have new Republican governors reviewing film subsidy programs that were begun under Democratic predecessors. No big spender has yet pulled out of the subsidy business, though Arizona, Iowa and Kansas have suspended or dropped their relatively small programs. In Missouri, meanwhile, a bipartisan review of all the state’s tax credits recommended that a film incentive be dropped, but no bill has been introduced to do so. That has been enough to send a shudder through Hollywood, where producers have come to rely on taxpayer support for films like “How Do You Know,” “The Social Network,” “Love and Other Drugs,” “127 Hours” and many others.