Arkansas not favored Southern spot by movie producers

The figures from 2005 tell the story: Louisiana 23, Arkansas 1. When movie producers look for Southern locales to make their movies, Arkansas isn't a choice spot.

Actress, screenwriter and director Joey Lauren Adams, who filmed "Come Early Morning" in her home town of North Little Rock, received $37,000 in incentives from the state. But Adams could have gotten $700,000 if she had filmed the picture in neighboring Louisiana.

Now, she says, she's reluctant to return for future pictures.

"If I were to direct a bigger-budget film, there's no way I would find any financiers that would let me shoot in Arkansas," she says. "It's not a smart financial move."

All the states surrounding Arkansas, except Texas, offer heftier subsidies. But past legislative attempts to attract moviemakers to Arkansas by improving the incentive package have failed. And, meanwhile, the current incentive is to expire June 30.

Gov. Mike Beebe says the nearly $200 million in tax cuts passed in the recent legislative session left no money for breaks for the film industry. He recognizes that motion-picture production would be beneficial to the state, he says, but before he can commit to greater incentives, he would need a guarantee that the benefits would outweigh the cost.

"If it is a good deal for the state of Arkansas, then we have to, you bet, compete with the other states," the governor said last week.

Arkansas refunds a company's sales and use tax if the company spends $500,000 within six months, or $1 million within 12 months.

Louisiana offers filmmakers a tax incentive that's far more generous a tax credit equal to 25 percent of a studio's in-state spending and an additional 10 percent of the payroll of Louisiana residents employed for production.

So when producers want to shoot in the South, they increasingly favor Louisiana. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, 23 feature films were shot in Louisiana in 2005 to Arkansas' one.

"It's useless," says Jeff Begun of Arkansas' subsidy. "It's not enough money to make anybody interested. Why would you go to Arkansas when you can go to Louisiana and get 25 percent?"

Begun, of Axium Entertainment, a Los Angeles payroll services company, studies state film incentives.

Film production brings film editors, camera operators, specialized set builders, electricians and other crew to a state. Unlike large manufacturers, production companies don't need costly physical plants, don't generate pollution and spend much of their money locally, says Kathy Deck, director of the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research at Fayetteville.

Since the Louisiana Legislature enacted film incentives in 2002, the economic impact of film industry spending in that state went from $7.5 million in 2003 to $344 million in 2005, according to a report from Economics Research Associates in Chicago. The movie industry spending created more than 13,000 jobs by 2005, according to the research.

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com