1. FILM PRODUCTION MEANS JOB CREATION

Rebates will bring the film industry back to Minnesota in a hurry, instead of allowing the industry to film Minnesota films elsewhere. Major motion pictures bring hundreds of millions of dollars of new money wherever they film, hiring thousands of local crew, creating indirect jobs in the service industry and purchasing goods and services from local vendors. Movie production companies spend 40% of their production budgets on local vendors.

Minnesota rebates attract these major motion pictures to our state; without incentives they simply do not.

In this section-

• NYT article finds New York doubles money paid out for
• Film incentives, adds 17,000 new jobs
• New Mexico receives 1½ times incentives back, 2770 job
• Michigan announces 6,000 new jobs in Film industry

2. Who is Shoot in Minnesota (SIM)?

We are a Trade Organization 501c6 called Shoot in Minnesota. We are film crews, IATSE, Teamsters, SAG actors, carpenters, painters, animal wranglers, hotel industry people, waiters, Chamber of Commerce, rental car agencies, and equipment houses. We used to work on films like Grumpy Old Men and The Mighty Ducks. We want our jobs so we can live in Minnesota. We want the revenue brought by major motion pictures to come back to our communities.

3. How do Minnesota film rebates operate efficiently with existing state resources?

• Offer 25% rebate to qualifying movie projects
• Appropriate 25 million per year for the rebate fund, thus attracting larger movies with big budgets
• Qualifying productions submit documentation to the Department of Revenue after production
• DOR issues rebates and monitors compliance of program
  

In this section

• New Mexico 25% rebate program
• Iowa 50% rebate program
• Illinois 30% rebate

4. Minnesota Film rebates allow Minnesota stories and Minnesota locations to turn into Minnesota job opportunities.

Today that is not happening. “Gran Torino”, “Juno”, “New in Town” and “Leatherheads” had 110.8 million to spend in the Twin Cities, Duluth and New Ulm, but without competitive incentives they did not.

• New Ulm could have benefited from 40% of the 140 million budget that was spent on “New in Town”. Rebates brought the production to Manitoba.
• George Clooney’s “Leatherheads” would have spent 40% of the 80 million dollar budget in Duluth. Rebates led them to South Carolina.
• “Juno” 22 million went to Vancouver
• “Gran Torino”’s 35 million to Michigan.
• If Minnesota offered 25% rebates and had 25 million dollars in the fund, we could have attracted all of these films. Let’s not miss the next opportunity.
  
  

Minnesota is losing out to the sum of 110.8 million, without rebates Minnesota stories are filmed elsewhere.

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