Senate sub-committee to discuss the Film Incentive Bill
At the end of April, 2008, the S.C. House of Representatives passed H.4815, the Film Incentive Bill. The House took the necessary steps to improve S.C.'s footing in the film industry.
This Friday, Oct. 17, in Williamston, S.C., there is a meeting of the Senate sub- committee to discuss the Film Incentive Bill. The bill that was passed in April by the House is under the Senate sub- committee's due diligence and is expected to be voted on by the Senate in the next session beginning in January.
In support of the bill, House Speaker Bobby Harrell recently said, "We have heard from many film industry leaders that S.C.'s Film Commission is one of the best run film commissions in the country and is one of our most valuable resources in attracting new jobs and multi- million dollar film investments to our state. However, decisions made outside the commission - by our own Department of Commerce - to use loopholes in the law passed by the General Assembly have seriously hindered its efforts to attract new jobs and new investments to our state."
Others agreed with Harrell about the disappointments with the Department of Commerce's handling of the film issue. The S.C. Film Commission was moved to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism on July 1 of this year.
As S.C. State Treasurer Converse Chellis put it last April, "In 2006, S.C. took a bold step in developing knowledge-based industry jobs with the passage of the S.C. Motion Picture Incentive Act. The Act is comprehensive. It was designed to recruit new dollars to our economy and create good high- paying job opportunities for South Carolinians in the motion picture and television industries.
As important, the Act also rewards film producers for spending money with our S.C. businesses or investing in S.C. businesses that support these industries. Finally, the Act created collaborative training opportunities with our institutes of higher education, creating S.C. graduates to participate in one of America's top three exports… the entertainment industry."
The original S.C. Motion Picture Incentive Act, in effect from July 2006 until July 2007, attracted six feature films, two television pilots, as well as numerous commercials. The television series Army Wives, filmed in Charleston, is a direct result of the Act.
Until July 2007, until the Act was altered by the Department of Commerce, as long as it was not over $1 million, whatever a person was paid in a film qualified for a 20% wage rebate to the production company. As of July 2007, any actor from out of state was good for only a 10% rebate up to a maximum of $3,500.
Word of S.C.'s pre-July 2007 success got out in the country, and other states bolstered their competitive positions for film attraction while S.C. suffered reductions in its incentives offerings. The states that jumped in with the most competitive incentives by the end of 2007 were Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
Still, in early 2008, movie-making activity picked up in the state. While Army Wives continued in Charleston, Columbia had Nailed, a $25- million movie. Also, The New Daughter, starring Kevin Costner, And Dear John, Starring Channing Tatum, are under production in the state.
Hollywood Comes to South Carolina, a film history exhibition covering 100 years of movie production in the state, continues at the State Museum through this weekend, closing after Oct. 19.
