Originally filed Tuesday, July 3, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
New Jersey recently passed tax credits for film and TV production companies that are even more generous than those in Georgia.
Films and TV shows could claim up to 35 percent of production costs in tax credits. But the state capped the credits at $75 million a year over five years.
Georgia’s 30 percent tax credit has no ceiling, which is why big-budget films have flocked here.
Ric Reitz, who helped craft the 2008 Georgia tax credits and is president of actors' union SAG-AFTRA Atlanta, said the impact on Georgia should be nominal. It might hurt New York more since its New Jersey's geographic neighbor.
New York, which has its own $420 million a year tax credit program, has often taken shows that are set in New Jersey. For instance, as Deadline.com noted, HBO's show "Boardwalk Empire" years ago chose to build its own Atlantic City in Brooklyn rather than use the Jersey shore because of New York's tax credits.
New Jersey dropped tax incentives seven years ago when the economy was far weaker and critics questioned the payback of such credits.
Steven Gorelick, executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, said he is fielding inquiries from major TV and film producers. "My phone has been ringing off the hook in the past month since the New Jersey Legislature passed the incentive bill and the Governor announced that he would sign it," Gorelick said. "We have been traveling all over the state with a number of producers scouting scores of locations for major productions."
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