Maryland Film Incentive

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Author: Ty Ford

Started: October 17, 2009, 7:35:14 pm

Target: Governor and Legislature of Maryland

Category: Economy & Business

Supporters:

Goal:

100,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Closed

The signers of this petition are asking Governor Martin O'Malley and the Maryland Legislature to revisit the concept of tax breaks to attract movie production to Maryland. This is not to take money away from existing, non-film related state programs, as some misguided people have been led to believe. This is to offer competitive tax credits to incoming business that serves out film production community and all of the secondary and tertiary businesses in Maryland. Actors and production and postproduction people and facilities are obvious receivers of this windfall. But please don't forget our lumber and metal shops, hotels, motels, gas stations, dry cleaners, laundries, delivery services, print services, vehicle rental, restaurants, waitstaff, cooks, bus personnel, local retail and wholesale food sales, coffee shops, hardware stores, clothing stores. In fact, there aren't many businesses that don't benefit. These are the real, cash in hand benefactors.

In Washington, DC, the Capitol of our nation, we have already seen millions of dollars pulled out of the production market by NY production facilities who raided production and postproduction facilities in DC, VA and MD who produce political commercials. Better deals pulled the work to New York. Facilities in DC, VA and MD went out of business. Do we really want that to happen state-wide? It almost has.

Why do we have a government film commission and at the same time have the Governor and Legislature strip them of what they need to attract profitable business? Why not just put up barricades to stop all film production companies, their representatives and assigns at our borders and tell them they are not welcome here, or charge them a special "film maker toll" for entering the state? In effect, that's just what we're doing.

Maryland's forsaken motto, "America In Miniature", designed to attract people to the state sadly has been forgotten. Where is the spirit that created that motto? The intrinsic value of this region so poignantly captured by those three words now falls on deaf ears in Maryland Government. That's just plain wrong.

We, the undersigned citizens of the Free State, want this onerous and life-threatening behavior stopped and smart incentives restored and adjusted to attract film business to the state. Sooner rather than later.