From fight over film incentives, a new star emerges
Oh, Oakland County Trea surer Andy Meisner didn’t make any political announcements. What he did was address a throng of potential and current film industry workers who don’t seem to have current Gov. Rick Snyder’s ear.
And he was self-effacing and good-humored, but also strong and passionate. “Gov. Snyder? This is Michigan, and this is what we do!” Meisner said to cheers. Film incentives working Snyder wants to end film incentives and, instead, offer $25 million in grants that wouldn’t interest studios. “We came together a number of years ago with maybe a crazy idea — but it wasn’t really so crazy,” said Meisner, who cosponsored the film credit legislation when he served in the state House. “We did research, and we examined what had happened in our sister states, and what our research showed was there was a real ability to bring this industry to Michigan.” Meisner reminded the crowd at Laurel Manor in Livonia that a new Legislature must decide whether to honor its predecessor’s near-unanimous decision — and honor a promise to Michigan’s creative class and young people who want to stay here but don’t want to be computer geeks or auto workers or farmers. “Our No. 1 goal was to stimulate jobs and investment at a time when this wasn’t happening,” he said. And it worked. The film industry investment program has resulted in jobs for hundreds of people — voters — with the potential to create work for thousands more. The program also has done what millions in marketing and TV ads did not — put a new, big spotlight on Michigan. It did what the former governor’s Cool Cities program didn’t: It made Michigan cool. It also poured money into Michigan’s economy and people’s pockets, not state coffers. The only thing it didn’t do was include a way to measure its own success. But that’s fixable. The program works. Shades of Obama “Before the governor’s ink was dry on my legislation, we had $125 million in (film) business lined up,” Meisner said. I’ve watched Meisner win landslide elections to the Legislature three times, and then to a county treasurer’s job. And I have to say: I got the same feeling Thursday night that I did when Sen. Barack Obama spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, that something bigger is ahead for him. Meisner stood before a crowd so large that, at one point, he had to pause to catch his breath. “I’m a little overwhelmed,” he said mid-speech. The crowd cheered again. It wasn’t the words. It was a presence. And whatever happens with the movies, something else happened Thursday in Livonia, something worth watching. • CONTACT ROCHELLE RILEY: RRILEY99@FREEPRESS.COM
Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner laughs while speaking during the Michigan Film Industry Town Hall Meeting on Thursday.
Michigan can’t afford rich film subsidy
I would like to set the record straight on the state’s position when it comes to the issue of film credits. In the news media coverage, we’ve been painted as everything from Hollywood haters to job killers. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve stated publicly that the entertainment industry is a viable industry but that we need to find a different mechanism to support the industry. Our current mechanism is nothing more than a subsidy by which the state writes a check for 42% of the cost of the film project with almost no return on investment to the state coffers. Furthermore, there are no limits to the number of films or the number of checks we write. If a producer spends $100 million on a film in Michigan, we would be forced to write them a check for $42 million. Michigan simply can’t afford this. Film credits, the way they are implemented today, are not tax rebates. They are a subsidy that has cost the state $190 million over the last two years. That’s $190 million that didn’t go to schools, roads, Medicaid or any of the other important state programs supporting our citizens. There are numerous reports that have been released on the merits of state funding for the film industry. I don’t want to debate which reports are right or wrong; some reports will tell you it’s a bad investment for states to make, while other reports will say it’s a good investment. I realize that there is economic activity that is associated with filmmaking in our state, and I realize that there is a sense of pride in having Michigan involved on the big screen. The question becomes: How much are Michigan taxpayers willing to pay for this? And what state services are taxpayers willing to cut in order to fund the movie business? The bottom line here is that, while economic activity is generated, the film industry doesn’t give the state coffers a return on investment, the industry does not create sustainable jobs for the long term, and the cost for the long-term jobs that it does create is quite high. Conservative estimates show that the number of direct full-time jobs associated with the film industry from 2009-10 is 1,621. This equates to a state cost of $117,211 for each job, a cost that is placed on the backs of our taxpayers, and a cost that makes cuts to other state programs. Putting together this recommended budget was no easy task. Michigan faces a significant deficit of $1.4 billion, and it requires tough decisions. There was shared sacrifice everywhere in this budget. If you take a step back and look at it, and realize that we maintained $100 million for the film industry in the recommended budget, I would argue that’s a strong show of support, given our situation. In fact, Michigan is still among the top states in the nation in supporting the film industry. I am very proud of the budget we recommended for fiscal year 2012. It’s a responsible budget, the right thing to do for Michigan, with a focus on job creation for the long term. I don’t mean to minimize the difficulty of shared sacrifice, but this is the type of budget that is needed to move Michigan forward. • JOHN NIXON IS THE BUDGET DIRECTOR AND A GROUP EXECUTIVE IN GOV. RICK SNYDER’S CABINET.
