Katie Pavlich | Feb 18, 2014
For years big, liberal Hollywood executives have inked new movie deals that are filmed not in tax burdened California, but in the tax friendly south. Townhall's John Hanlon wrote about this phenomenon in the February 2013 edition of Townhall Magazine:
In the 2011 blockbuster “Battle: Los Angeles,” the City of Angels faced an attack from an outside force that threatened everyone in the town and their way of life.
In reality, though the alien enemy from that film doesn’t exist, an outside force has significantly undercut the vibrancy of a town known for its vast array of film and television productions. The external force? Tax credits, which are quickly moving film and television productions far away from the Hollywood Hills.
The production of “Battle: Los Angeles” brings this situation into stark focus.
Ironically enough, the movie about aliens attacking Los Angeles was predominantly shot far away from the city it portrayed. Much of “Battle: Los Angeles” was actually filmed in Louisiana, a state that is taking full advantage of California’s high taxes and helping to create a burgeoning industry in the state. As the Los Angeles Times reported, “Except for the movie’s opening sequences at Camp Pendleton and the alien beach attack in Santa Monica, 90% of the film was shot in Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport in the northwest part of the state.”
This wasn’t the first time that Hollywood surrendered a major production to a state that was actively competing with California for business. What is interesting, though, is that despite seeing the effect a higher tax burden is having in their industry as productions head to the South, many celebrities continue to extol the virtues of higher taxes.
Now, the Daily Caller reports Hollywood is demanding the state give the industry a tax break to operate in California despite re-electing big tax promoter Jerry Brown as Governor and "the rich should pay their fair share" President Barack Obama. Until then, the industry won't suck it up, pay the taxes (because it's only fair the rich pay more) and stay in California. Instead, Hollywood will continue to do business in states with fewer taxes.
Film Works, an entertainment-industry advocate organization, recently launched an online petition asking California’s film and TV enthusiasts to lobby lawmakers to create greater incentives for production to stay within state borders.
While operating costs in California have grown more expensive over the past decade, other states and countries have established film tax credits in an effort to bring production to their territory.
If California does not pass similar legislation, Film Works warns, the state will lose hold of one of its most iconic industries.
“We are now greatly concerned that the state’s status as the epicenter for motion picture production is at risk,” the petition reads.
“If policymakers fail to make our state more competitive, the film industry in California will face the same fate as other industries, including aerospace, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of jobs permanently leaving California for other states.”
Heavy taxes kill entire industries? Who knew! Once again Hollywood liberals, deficient of basic economic knowledge, have proven to be useful idiots sealing their fate outside of The Golden State. Here are some headline flashbacks just in case some people aren't quite seeing the hypocrisy:
Top Hollywood Executives Turn Out For Jerry Brown Fundraiser
Alan Horn & Other Studio Bosses Set Big Jerry Brown Fundraiser Next Month
Californians approve massive tax hike on the wealthy
Pay up Hollywood, it's only fair.
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