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March 07, 2006

NYC Productions Good For City, Bad For Parking

For those of you reading this from your hermetic domicile 1,000 feet below the city, it might be big news that the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting (you know, they of the ubiquitous "Made in NY" logo) wants film and TV productions to shoot here in New York. Which means good news and bad news, I suppose--the good news being that the Associated Press has its updated quarterly New York film trend-piece online at last:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg the city has taken big steps to change its reputation, including a tax credit that officials say has generated $600 million in new business, thousands of new jobs and has begun to transform the industry.

"The perception was, 'Ugh, New York. We really want to be there — great locations, great crews, but there's the hassle factor,'" said Katherine Oliver, Bloomberg's commissioner of film, theater and broadcasting. "So what we have tried to do is market, promote and change that." ...

It became clear to city officials they needed a tax credit, which went into effect one year ago. The program gives a 15 percent credit to productions that do 75 percent of their work here. The package also includes free media — including space on the Times Square Jumbotron — and discounts at city attractions.

The result has astonished entertainment leaders and city officials. The number of location shooting days, which is how the city measures the health of this $5 billion industry, swelled by 35 percent in 2005.

OK--and the bad news? That little fucker Ethan Hawke gets a write-off for stealing your parking spot. This town just gets crueler and crueler.

Posted by stvanairsdale at March 7, 2006 11:24 AM

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Posted by: Mark Ziegler at March 8, 2006 08:15 PM