Vote Could Mean It's a Wrap for Michigan Film Office

“Batman v. Superman: The Dawn of Justice” is scheduled to receive $35 million in tax credits, based on an estimated $131 million in in-state spending. (Photo via Warner Bros.)

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The state’s film incentive program and funding for the Michigan Film Office would end in 2017 under a 3-2 vote of the Senate Government Operations Committee on Tuesday, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press report.

Sen. Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, said money earmarked for attracting films could be better spent on other priorities, such as repairing the state’s crumbling road system

“Other states do this better than us. I think we go away from it for a while,” he said.

If the state wants to continue luring film projects, such as “Gran Torino,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and others, it can do so through the Michigan Economic Development Corp., a quasi-public agency that houses the Michigan Film Office.

The MEDC budgets $400,000 to pay a staff of five people who recruit film production companies to Michigan, but absorbing the cuts would be difficult for the agency, which is facing a $135 million budget cut, said Joel Freeman, a state government relations vice president at MEDC.

“We’ve got tight times in terms of other plans being worked on in the Legislature right now, so it’s a tough call,” Freeman told the Free Press. “You have to start prioritizing.”

News that the film incentives could end didn’t sit well with members of the metro Detroit film community, Mark Adler, director of the Michigan Production Alliance, a trade group for film and video production companies, told the Free Press.

“The production community in general is outraged that this could occur,” he said. “They’re on a mission to kill the program at this point.”

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The House of Representatives voted in mid-March to end the incentives Oct. 1, but Gov. Rick Snyder said it was too soon to end the program, which he credits with bolstering skilled trades jobs in the state.

The budget for the 2016 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 includes $25 million for the Michigan Film Office, including $19.05 million to retire bonds and reimburse the State of Michigan Retirement Systems for payments on a Pontiac movie studio.

In 2013 and 2014, the program provided $50 million in aid to films and TV productions, but the amount available for incentives in 2015 was trimmed to $38 million to reflect lower revenue projections for the year.

If the proposal makes it into law, Michigan would the only state without a film office or commission, according to the networking site and online magazine itsfilm.com