Filmmaker incentive bill, take 2

LINCOLN — Shoot a film called “Nebraska” in Oklahoma?

State legislators were told Wednesday that's a distinct possibility because Nebraska is one of only six states that don't provide incentives for filmmaking.

As a result, “Up in the Air,” the hit George Clooney movie whose plot was based in Omaha, was filmed mostly in Missouri and Michigan, which do have tax incentives, said State Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha.

About a day and a half of filming for “Up in the Air” took place in Omaha — mostly at Eppley Airfield — but the city missed out on six weeks of filming and economic development.

“The reason was simple: Nebraska did not have existing film production incentives to compete,” Mello said.

The senator is making a second attempt at creating incentives for the production of films, television shows and commercials, after a proposal was killed last year.

Supporters said filmmaking not only would bring money and jobs to Nebraska but also would help keep talented young people from moving away and make the state “just a neater place to be.”

Mello said his new proposal, Legislative Bill 1073, or the “Building Nebraska's Creative Economy Act,” would create at least $1.08 in economic benefits for every $1 in income tax credits it provided to film companies.

The bill is patterned after a similar law in Oklahoma, which Mello said has had great success in attracting movie production.

Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue said Mello's new bill is much improved over last year's because it is “revenue-neutral” and it would not hand out incentives until after money has been spent, much like the state's “Advantage Act,” which has attracted high-tech businesses such as Yahoo.

The change might give LB 1073 a chance, even in these cash-strapped times for state government.

But after the Wednesday public hearing before the Revenue Committee, she said the bill still needs more work.

Cornett, the Revenue Committee chairwoman, said the estimated $260,000 cost of implementing the bill was too high and that even if the amount were lowered to $100,000 (as Mello suggested), that might still be too much.

“That's still a chunk of change this year,” she said.

Stu Miller, a former deputy director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, provided a report on tax incentives from other states and said those proposed by Mello were not extravagant.

He said the 17 percent income tax credits that would be provided under the bill might bring a return as high as $1.25 per $1 of tax credits. Under LB 1073, that incentive would climb by 2 percent if Nebraska-recorded music were used in a production and by 3 percent more if the production expenditures occurred in a non-metropolitan area.

When asked about problematic film incentive programs in Iowa and Michigan, both Miller and Mello said LB 1073 should not trigger similar problems.

Iowa, according to Miller, poorly audited the incentives it paid out. Michigan gave away too much money, Mello said.

Alexander Payne, the Omaha-born screenwriter-director of movies including “Sideways” and “About Schmidt,” plans to shoot a movie called “Nebraska” next year.

But Payne, in a letter distributed Wednesday to senators, said that although he wants to shoot “Nebraska” in his home state, film financiers apply “unbearable pressure” to use locations that provide even modest incentives.

“Currently, I'm producing a movie called ‘Cedar Rapids,' which was going to film in Iowa but was forced to decamp to Michigan when Iowa blinked,” Payne wrote.

Steve Seline of Omaha, a former executive of the independent film company that produced “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” said Nebraska has many talented people in the movie industry.

If given a “level playing field,” Seline said, the state could lure significant jobs and perhaps attract businesses that cater to film production.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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