March 5, 2007
On location | The state sweetens the pot to help lure Hollywood productions to Maine
By Kerry Elson
Kimberly Lindlof will never forget the summer of 2003. That was when the movie "Empire Falls" was filmed in Waterville, where she's president of the regional chamber of commerce. The film, which aired on HBO in 2005, brought millions of dollars to the town, she says, with crew staying at local hotels and buying supplies downtown. Actor Paul Newman even bought a boat while he was there, from Mid-Maine Marine. "I wish we had a film every summer," Lindlof says. "It was wonderful."
Gov. Baldacci thought it was wonderful, too. So wonderful, in fact, that last March he began offering tax breaks to film producers, to convince them to keep making movies here. Under the Maine Attraction Film Incentive Plan, the state reimburses producers for 10%-12% of wages for their crew and credits investors for taxes they would pay on income from the film. Call it a Pine Tree Zone for the movie business.
Unnecessary? Not to the Maine Film Office, a branch of the state Department of Economic and Community Development created in 1982 to recruit filmmakers. While Maine once could rely on its charming vistas to draw productions like "Empire Falls," it now has to offer financial incentives, too, says Film Office Director Lea Girardin. And the competition has grown intense: In the last couple years, 30 states have made such plans, as have more than two dozen countries worldwide.
Maine's plan has had some success. Last year, enticed by the incentives, VH1 filmed a reality show here, and several independent feature films were about to shoot here, until their financing fell through. The plan is also of interest to larger studios. When Greg Gadberry, the office's assistant director, went on a marketing trip to Los Angeles last year, he met with representatives from Warner Brothers. "Without the incentives," he says, "that never would have happened."
But compared to other states, Maine's incentive plan is modest. It's also a work in progress, one limited partly by a small staff and a tiny operating budget ˆ just $30,000. Some lawmakers, too, balk at the thought of giving tax breaks to a seemingly wealthy industry, especially as the state struggles economically, Gadberry says.
This year, however, Girardin and Gadberry are vowing to market the plan more aggressively to filmmakers here and out of state. With help from the Maine Film Commission, an 11-member, governor-appointed advisory board, they also hope to tweak the formula. "We think there must be a tipping point," says Girardin, "where you don't give away too much, but enough to get the work to come."
Spend and leave
Maine's film incentive plan may not have brought Hollywood films in droves, but several smaller budget productions filmed here in 2006, some enticed by the tax breaks. Last year, the film office recorded 15 catalog shoots, 10 television programs, four commercials, three documentaries and two low-budget feature films.
Though smaller in budget than major feature films, those productions can have a big economic impact, according to Gadberry. While last year's tally hasn't yet been calculated, over the last five years such productions have in total spent about $8 million per year on staff salaries and services like equipment rental, catering and hotel stays. "It comes [as] a direct economic shot," Gadberry says. "Our motto is, 'They come, they spend, they leave.'"
Three years ago, for example, when the town of Bethel was the setting for a low-budget, independent feature called "The 12 Dogs of Christmas," the film crew spent at least $100,000 at local businesses, according to Town Manager Scott Cole. The producers stayed for two months at The Prodigal Inn in Bethel, an unexpected boost for innkeeper Marcey White. "It was a big part of our off-season business," she says.
To keep that business coming, the Maine Film Office made sure that even low-budget production companies could apply for the tax breaks. Other states, like Rhode Island ˆ a direct competitor with Maine ˆ require a $300,000 investment per project, but Maine requires a company to spend just $250,000 over a 12-month period. The plan also is deliberately broad, to allow Maine's many producers of TV commercials, documentaries and catalogs to apply.
"That's why we have a low threshold ˆ we don't have a lot of big production companies in Maine," says Gadberry.
Kirk Wolfinger, co-owner of Lone Wolf Documentary Group in South Portland, applied for the tax breaks last year, hoping to receive $30,000-$50,000 in return this summer. Lone Wolf films primarily out of state, making several television documentaries a year for outlets like National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. Wolfinger and his 12 employees research, plan and edit the films in Maine, however, so the company is still eligible for the tax breaks.
Wolfinger was an early supporter of the film incentive plan. His company is small, he says, earning $3 million-$5 million a year, so any reimbursement is helpful. "It got a huge, huge vote of confidence from me," he says. "It's a step in the right direction, because running a small business in the state of Maine is not easy."
A few out-of-state production companies, too, were attracted to Maine's tax breaks. Cable music station VH1 filmed two episodes of "Celebrity Paranormal Project," a reality show, near Bangor last year, on Ayers Island. The Maine episodes, which aired last fall, sent 10 celebrities ˆ among them rapper Coolio and Playboy model Bridget Marquardt ˆ to hunt ghosts in an old textile mill.
While "Celebrity Paranormal Project" may not have the literary cachet of "Empire Falls," it did provide valuable training for production assistants in Maine, some of whom had never worked on a film or TV show before, according to Gadberry. Plus, he says, it's good marketing for Maine, giving the state national exposure.
For some residents here who work in the film industry, the film incentives offer hope of more frequent, higher-paying jobs. Will Fraser, a 30-year-old Damariscotta native, moved back to Maine from Los Angeles last year, having heard the state's film industry was picking up. Now, he works as a freelance lighting assistant, film location scout and film editor for projects like "Celebrity Paranormal Project." "I'm wearing as many hats as possible," he says. "In Maine, you have to."
Fraser's workload here is just 10% of what he did in Los Angeles ˆ he's started Fraser Film, a photo and film editing company, to supplement his freelance income ˆ but he stays in Maine because the state's film industry has great potential, he says. He's received what he calls "Los Angeles wages" more than once here in Maine; "Celebrity Paranormal Project" hired him as a production assistant and paid him $125-$150 a day for two weeks, and then hired him for another episode in Connecticut.
Still, for many production workers like Fraser, the jobs are sporadic. Many travel to places like Rhode Island or Massachusetts for work on feature films, which often shoot there to take advantage of generous incentives. Last year, for example, two Disney movies that filmed in Massachusetts were eligible for a 25% spending reimbursement the state passed in 2006.
Competing for Hollywood
Girardin and Gadberry admit they have a lot of work to do. For now, they're researching other states' incentive plans, to see what could work in Maine. "We have to find what Maine can afford and what fits us," says Girardin. The film office hopes to present a new plan to the Legislature in 2008.
Boosting the state's own film industry also is important, Girardin says, to create jobs and a pool of talent that out-of-state producers can tap. She and Gadberry envision giving small loans to filmmakers based in Maine, offering an apprenticeship program for students or creating a forum where filmmakers could meet potential investors. They also want to better market the existing tax breaks, as some filmmakers here still don't know they're available, Girardin says.
Even in its next incarnation, however, Maine's film incentive plan may not match those of states like New Mexico or Louisiana, which, like Massachusetts, reimburse producers for 25% of total in-state spending. New Brunswick, Canada, another Maine competitor,
reimburses producers for 35%-40% of crew wages.
But the state does have other selling points that the film office wants to market. For one, the state has "fabulous locations," Girardin says, including cities, mountains and rocky coastline all within an hour or two of each other. The state is also "very film-friendly," she says; towns are generally happy to play host to film crews, and state administrators present few road blocks. When a company shot four BMW commercials in Western Maine last year, for example, it wanted to use a closed-off highway. "They were prepared for all this red tape," Girardin says, but the Department of Transportation readily opened the gates and allowed the company access to shoot.
Fraser, too, says Maine has advantages. "It's so costly to obtain permits in some places ˆ just to go out in the woods costs thousands [for permits] in L.A.," he says, "but here you can just go. There's so much more space and natural beauty available."
The film office recently subscribed to a film industry news service, Studio System, to keep up to date with recently announced productions. Though it's expensive, at $2,000 a year, the information it provides is valuable; if a film is set in Maine, or could be filmed here, the film office can pounce before a producer decides on a location. "It helps us tap into the rumor mill," Girardin says.
For now, though, other states may have the upper hand. And these days, clever set design can replicate an actual pretty landscape. Just ask the producers of "The Mist," a horror film based on a Stephen King short story. Set for release this fall, the film is shooting for the next month not in Maine, where the story is set, but where there are big tax breaks: Louisiana.
Gov. Baldacci thought it was wonderful, too. So wonderful, in fact, that last March he began offering tax breaks to film producers, to convince them to keep making movies here. Under the Maine Attraction Film Incentive Plan, the state reimburses producers for 10%-12% of wages for their crew and credits investors for taxes they would pay on income from the film. Call it a Pine Tree Zone for the movie business.
Unnecessary? Not to the Maine Film Office, a branch of the state Department of Economic and Community Development created in 1982 to recruit filmmakers. While Maine once could rely on its charming vistas to draw productions like "Empire Falls," it now has to offer financial incentives, too, says Film Office Director Lea Girardin. And the competition has grown intense: In the last couple years, 30 states have made such plans, as have more than two dozen countries worldwide.
Maine's plan has had some success. Last year, enticed by the incentives, VH1 filmed a reality show here, and several independent feature films were about to shoot here, until their financing fell through. The plan is also of interest to larger studios. When Greg Gadberry, the office's assistant director, went on a marketing trip to Los Angeles last year, he met with representatives from Warner Brothers. "Without the incentives," he says, "that never would have happened."
But compared to other states, Maine's incentive plan is modest. It's also a work in progress, one limited partly by a small staff and a tiny operating budget ˆ just $30,000. Some lawmakers, too, balk at the thought of giving tax breaks to a seemingly wealthy industry, especially as the state struggles economically, Gadberry says.
This year, however, Girardin and Gadberry are vowing to market the plan more aggressively to filmmakers here and out of state. With help from the Maine Film Commission, an 11-member, governor-appointed advisory board, they also hope to tweak the formula. "We think there must be a tipping point," says Girardin, "where you don't give away too much, but enough to get the work to come."
Spend and leave
Maine's film incentive plan may not have brought Hollywood films in droves, but several smaller budget productions filmed here in 2006, some enticed by the tax breaks. Last year, the film office recorded 15 catalog shoots, 10 television programs, four commercials, three documentaries and two low-budget feature films.
Though smaller in budget than major feature films, those productions can have a big economic impact, according to Gadberry. While last year's tally hasn't yet been calculated, over the last five years such productions have in total spent about $8 million per year on staff salaries and services like equipment rental, catering and hotel stays. "It comes [as] a direct economic shot," Gadberry says. "Our motto is, 'They come, they spend, they leave.'"
Three years ago, for example, when the town of Bethel was the setting for a low-budget, independent feature called "The 12 Dogs of Christmas," the film crew spent at least $100,000 at local businesses, according to Town Manager Scott Cole. The producers stayed for two months at The Prodigal Inn in Bethel, an unexpected boost for innkeeper Marcey White. "It was a big part of our off-season business," she says.
To keep that business coming, the Maine Film Office made sure that even low-budget production companies could apply for the tax breaks. Other states, like Rhode Island ˆ a direct competitor with Maine ˆ require a $300,000 investment per project, but Maine requires a company to spend just $250,000 over a 12-month period. The plan also is deliberately broad, to allow Maine's many producers of TV commercials, documentaries and catalogs to apply.
"That's why we have a low threshold ˆ we don't have a lot of big production companies in Maine," says Gadberry.
Kirk Wolfinger, co-owner of Lone Wolf Documentary Group in South Portland, applied for the tax breaks last year, hoping to receive $30,000-$50,000 in return this summer. Lone Wolf films primarily out of state, making several television documentaries a year for outlets like National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. Wolfinger and his 12 employees research, plan and edit the films in Maine, however, so the company is still eligible for the tax breaks.
Wolfinger was an early supporter of the film incentive plan. His company is small, he says, earning $3 million-$5 million a year, so any reimbursement is helpful. "It got a huge, huge vote of confidence from me," he says. "It's a step in the right direction, because running a small business in the state of Maine is not easy."
A few out-of-state production companies, too, were attracted to Maine's tax breaks. Cable music station VH1 filmed two episodes of "Celebrity Paranormal Project," a reality show, near Bangor last year, on Ayers Island. The Maine episodes, which aired last fall, sent 10 celebrities ˆ among them rapper Coolio and Playboy model Bridget Marquardt ˆ to hunt ghosts in an old textile mill.
While "Celebrity Paranormal Project" may not have the literary cachet of "Empire Falls," it did provide valuable training for production assistants in Maine, some of whom had never worked on a film or TV show before, according to Gadberry. Plus, he says, it's good marketing for Maine, giving the state national exposure.
For some residents here who work in the film industry, the film incentives offer hope of more frequent, higher-paying jobs. Will Fraser, a 30-year-old Damariscotta native, moved back to Maine from Los Angeles last year, having heard the state's film industry was picking up. Now, he works as a freelance lighting assistant, film location scout and film editor for projects like "Celebrity Paranormal Project." "I'm wearing as many hats as possible," he says. "In Maine, you have to."
Fraser's workload here is just 10% of what he did in Los Angeles ˆ he's started Fraser Film, a photo and film editing company, to supplement his freelance income ˆ but he stays in Maine because the state's film industry has great potential, he says. He's received what he calls "Los Angeles wages" more than once here in Maine; "Celebrity Paranormal Project" hired him as a production assistant and paid him $125-$150 a day for two weeks, and then hired him for another episode in Connecticut.
Still, for many production workers like Fraser, the jobs are sporadic. Many travel to places like Rhode Island or Massachusetts for work on feature films, which often shoot there to take advantage of generous incentives. Last year, for example, two Disney movies that filmed in Massachusetts were eligible for a 25% spending reimbursement the state passed in 2006.
Competing for Hollywood
Girardin and Gadberry admit they have a lot of work to do. For now, they're researching other states' incentive plans, to see what could work in Maine. "We have to find what Maine can afford and what fits us," says Girardin. The film office hopes to present a new plan to the Legislature in 2008.
Boosting the state's own film industry also is important, Girardin says, to create jobs and a pool of talent that out-of-state producers can tap. She and Gadberry envision giving small loans to filmmakers based in Maine, offering an apprenticeship program for students or creating a forum where filmmakers could meet potential investors. They also want to better market the existing tax breaks, as some filmmakers here still don't know they're available, Girardin says.
Even in its next incarnation, however, Maine's film incentive plan may not match those of states like New Mexico or Louisiana, which, like Massachusetts, reimburse producers for 25% of total in-state spending. New Brunswick, Canada, another Maine competitor,
reimburses producers for 35%-40% of crew wages.
But the state does have other selling points that the film office wants to market. For one, the state has "fabulous locations," Girardin says, including cities, mountains and rocky coastline all within an hour or two of each other. The state is also "very film-friendly," she says; towns are generally happy to play host to film crews, and state administrators present few road blocks. When a company shot four BMW commercials in Western Maine last year, for example, it wanted to use a closed-off highway. "They were prepared for all this red tape," Girardin says, but the Department of Transportation readily opened the gates and allowed the company access to shoot.
Fraser, too, says Maine has advantages. "It's so costly to obtain permits in some places ˆ just to go out in the woods costs thousands [for permits] in L.A.," he says, "but here you can just go. There's so much more space and natural beauty available."
The film office recently subscribed to a film industry news service, Studio System, to keep up to date with recently announced productions. Though it's expensive, at $2,000 a year, the information it provides is valuable; if a film is set in Maine, or could be filmed here, the film office can pounce before a producer decides on a location. "It helps us tap into the rumor mill," Girardin says.
For now, though, other states may have the upper hand. And these days, clever set design can replicate an actual pretty landscape. Just ask the producers of "The Mist," a horror film based on a Stephen King short story. Set for release this fall, the film is shooting for the next month not in Maine, where the story is set, but where there are big tax breaks: Louisiana.
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