Brad Pitt's Louisiana tax break

By April MacIntyre Oct 13, 2008, 16:44 GMT

10/04/2008 - Brad Pitt - 46th New York Film Festival - "Changeling" Premiere - Outside Arrivals - Ziegfeld Theater at 141 West 54th Street - New York City, NY, USA © Wild1 / PR Photos

In the world of filmmaking, states and countries act as individual entities trying to draw film production to spur local economies, and offer jobs to area craftspeople and film-specific vendors.

In this competition, many states have dangled enticing tax breaks and credits to producers to sweeten the deal, as Louisiana has done aggressively. 

The state boasts a vibrant film and television community with many established production hubs, sound stages and post-houses established over the years in the Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans area.

The current economic crisis has turned the spotlight on these fat giveaways to Hollywood and foreign producers, illuminating just what the cost is to the local taxpayer and just how the states manage to do this.  By getting the taxpayers to shore up the difference, these incentives are now causing some problems for local film commissions.

The New York Times reporter Michael Cieply uncovered exactly how much Brad Pitt's latest big film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" has cost the Bayou State: $27,117,737, to be exact.

Pitt maintains a home with Angelina Jolie in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and has spearheaded a home development plan to help rebuild the devastated ninth ward of the city.  Last year Pitt took advantage of a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative by announcing a new 150-Home Sustainable Community in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. Pitt partnered with real-estate developer and philanthropist Steve Bing as part of his “Make It Right” project.

Pitt pledged to match $5 million in contributions to the project. Bing has pledged to match $5 million in contributions as well, for a total of $10 million in matching funds for the home building.

Despite the do-gooding efforts of the star, Cieply writes that outrage at paying rich peoples' bills has hit a nerve with John Q. Public, and in turn, various state legislators who want to reign in the give-away party.

"One of the most shocking bills has come due in Louisiana, where residents are financing a hefty share of Brad Pitt's next movie...As the number of movies made under these plans multiplied in recent years, the state money turned into a welcome rescue plan for Hollywood at a time when private investors were fleeing the movies. But the glamour business has not always been kind to those who pick up the costs, and states are moving to rein in their largess that has allowed producers to be reimbursed for all manner of expenditures, whether the salaries of stars, the rental of studio space or meals for the crew."

Cieply reports that the politically checkered state of Louisiana's former film commissioner is now due in court in January and facing 15 years in federal prison for accepting bribes to inflate film budgets netting higher production subsidies.

Over 40 states have followed Louisiana's lead, such as locational favorites North Carolina, Michigan, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which Cieply reports has recently tightened their lenient tax credit menu offered to filmmakers.  Critics of the incentives programs cite that the jobs created by fostering a less expensive production location makes up for the lost tax revenues.

Question of the day: How do you feel about large tax incentives for outside production companies to come and work in your state?  Do the temporary jobs that are created warrant the loss of tax revenues for your state?