State moves to lure film studios

e-mail this story More details WANT TO GO? What: S.C. Filmmakers Celebrate New Legislation When: 7-9 p.m. today Where: Warehouse Theatre, 37 Augusta St. Tickets: Free and open to the public Information: Lynn Grissom, (843) 552-2726 WHO THEY ARE The Carolina Film Alliance (CFA) is a 200-member, 6-year-old Charleston-based group attempting to grow into a statewide organization "to better represent all filmmakers in South Carolina." It has organized two events to increase its membership, inform interested parties of the state's new South Carolina Motion Picture Incentive Act of 2004; and honor the legislators Rep. Harry B. "Chip" Limehouse (R) of Charleston and Sen. James Richie (R) of Spartanburg, the bill's sponsors. The first event will be tonight, from 7 to 9, at the Warehouse Theatre, 35 Augusta St., in Greenville. Featured speakers will be Jeff Sumerel and Chris White, independent Upstate filmmakers. Although the topics and presentations are targeted at professionals in the film industry, anyone interested in attending is welcome free of charge.

In "reel money," those appearances have added more than $60 million to the state's economy, according to the South Carolina film office.

Tinseltown being a fickle suitor, however, the state is taking no chances with this fine romance. The South Carolina Motion Picture Incentive Act of 2004 — providing broader tax incentives to the film industry — was passed in June by the General Assembly. It is awaiting Gov. Mark Sanford's signature.

"The aim of this legislation is to draw more filmmakers and film-industry jobs to South Carolina," said David Epps, president of the Carolina Film Alliance (CFA), a Charleston based advocacy group. "In addition, it aims to encourage and assist the state's own filmmakers to grow a thriving indigenous film and media industry."

The new incentives go into effect upon the governor's signature and will be retroactive to July 1, said S.C. Film Commissioner Jeff Monks, whose office at the Department of Commerce deals with recruiting film productions to the state, as well as building up South Carolina's own film and television industry.

The incentive package

South Carolina's first attempt at such incentives came with the Film Industry Incentive Act of 1998, signed by then-Gov. David Beasley. That act exempted filmmakers from the 5 percent sales and use tax for supplies and equipment used "in front of the camera," but not "behind the camera," Monks said.

For example, renting a car to transport the star of a movie to the set didn't qualify for the exemption, but if the car were driven in front of the camera, the rental was tax-exempt.

In the current bill, the sales and use tax exemption covers all expenses incurred in producing a movie; to qualify, a film production company must spend a minimum of $250,000 in the state.

Also under the new act:

If the producing company spends $1 million or more, whether on a feature film, television show, documentary or commercial, it is allowed additional incentives. These include: a 5 percent labor withholding tax rebate ( the state withholds 7 percent and of that rebates 5 percent); plus a 7 percent suppliers tax rebate for anything purchased through a South Carolina supplier, from paper goods and bottled water to portable toilets; and exemption from state accommodations taxes.

The revenues that the producer brings into the state and spends go to the community where the film is actually made.

Reel view from the Upstate

While the Upstate has seen its own share of big-budget Hollywood film projects such as "The Chill Factor" in 1998 and "Radio" in 2002, it also has its own filmmakers who hope to benefit from the new incentives.

Peripatetic Upstate indie filmmaker Jeff Sumerel said he supports all recruiting efforts, including the CFA's in generating awareness of the legislation.

"It affects us in two areas. One is in drawing big-budget productions, but it is also highly beneficial to independents because one of its goals is to strengthen indigenous filmmaking in our state."

It could help lead students who in the past left South Carolina to pursue filmmaking elsewhere to return and reinvest what they learned in their home state.

What Sumerel would really like to see, he said, is "building our creative commodity. The benefit of setting South Carolina apart from the other competitors worldwide is our unique voice, ideas and stories."

Reaping the other benefits

Monks stressed that building up the filmmaking industry won't require any improvements to the state's infrastructure.

"The jobs we recruit are all high-paying jobs that average over $20 an hour, in an industry that requires lots of different types of skills, from technical to artistic, recruited from large and small, urban and rural labor forces.

The economic impact of major movie projects has been felt in communities across the state, Monks said, and as the films are promoted worldwide, South Carolina also is promoted as a tourist destination.

Monks' office publishes an annual production guide that lists available crews and suppliers, tells film companies about the state's climate and its rules for filming here, and lists grassroots organizations such as the Carolina Film Alliance.

How will the state market its incentives?

Print and direct-mail campaigns will place ads in such trade publications as The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, Monks said.

The film office has created a Web site, www.scfilmoffice.com, and once the ads are released, trips will be made to Los Angeles and New York "to start knocking on doors and promote the incentive package and set up meetings with the Motion Picture Association of America and other trade guilds," he said.

Word of mouth has already gotten out, Monks said, and he's getting "a lot of out-of-state calls wanting to know more about these incentives."

Who is the competition?

One of the United States' largest film-industry competitors since the 1980s has been Canada, which, depending on the province in which you shoot, rebates 22 percent to 48 percent of all labor costs, Monks said. Other nations, from Australia to Fiji, are in the fray with various incentives of their own.

Domestically, South Carolina's competitors are Louisiana and New Mexico, whose incentives have been "incredibly successful," Monks said.

"What we showed the South Carolina legislators is how our film office that once generated as high as $60 million fell to $2 million since 1999," he said.

The loss was incurred Monks said as a result of the Louisiana and New Mexico's film industry better incentives passage.

"With our new, strong and added Incentive Act we can turn this around."