Finally, some mainstream press is begining to catch onto one of the most under-reported trends in film of the last couple of years, the return of Hollywood production to America. USA today has a story on the rise of production in unlikely places, including our own Shreveport Louisiana.
Written by Alexandyr Kent, "Hooray for locations outside Hollywood" in USA TODAY succinctly describes the various tax schemes and financial incentives used to attract film productions. It's a good read, I recommend checking it out.
Tax Credits and rebates were all that was needed to take production out of America in the first place. Other countries put up hard cash to attract film production, and we came. Now the states have figured out that they can attract the same producers with the same tactics, and guess what, it works. Most of the returning productions are not going to California, but to other states, but at least its a start.
More and more, I am needing to send vfx people from Bulgaria to America, and now I am actually able to hire Americans again to work. Whatever you may think about the financial constructs used, this is good.
The entire world declared war on Hollywood years ago and the industry has been far too slow to react. But the mix of dollar devaluation, recession, European economic slowdown, and a newly flexible industry have begun to change things. The other states are fighting fire with fire and are able to bring the work to their own backyard. The next battleground will be between the states as they start to compete with each other for the same films.
