Bagels and Tax Breaks Bring Hollywood to New York City

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

From Reuters (via CNN Money):

New York is striking back with better bagels and tax breaks in its fight to keep motion picture production in the Big Apple and stem the flight of the industry to cheaper destinations like Canada. The lure worked for Mel Brooks, who announced Tuesday that the film version of his Broadway hit musical The Producers would become the first major project filmed at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, a massive complex that has also benefited from subsidies.

Brooks, flanked by politicians and studio executives, said, "without tax breaks, the horrible truth is this movie would have been made in Kabul or wherever the cheapest place in the world was to shoot the movie."

The movie will star Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell.

The New York tax break is a 15% tax credit to film and television companies that complete 75% of a production in New York. Governor Pataki signed the bill, the Empire State Film Production Credit Program, into law at press conference held yesterday in New York City. The legislation authorizes New York City to be able to offer additional tax incentives to help boost the film industry in the five boroughs, and Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the Made in New York Incentive Program, featuring a combination of tax and marketing credits, along with expanded customer services for productions in New York City.