State touts In an effort to attract motion picture and television projects to Hawaii, state and county film officials, and tax and investment experts hosted a dinner for more than two dozen entertainment executives at Le Dome restaurant in Los Angeles earlier this month.
film credits
in L.A. trip
Two dozen industry execs get
a sales pitch over a $5,000 dinnerBy Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.comThe April 9 event, which cost about $5,000, was organized by the state to explain financial incentives available to film and television productions working in Hawaii.
Studios represented at the dinner included Revolution, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Columbia, Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros., MGM, Viacom, Hearst Entertainment, as well as Morgan Creek, and Intermedia.
Chris Lee, film producer and former president of production for TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures, joined the film offices in hosting the dinner.
"Having had the experience of producing in Hollywood and Canada, and now looking at Hawaii from a producer's perspective, I'm happy to share my knowledge of what it will take to make Hawaii a more competitive place for production," said Lee, who just finished production on a Warner Bros. feature in Vancouver, "Ecks vs. Sever," starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu.
Lee was born and raised on Oahu and is on the Hawaii Television and Film Development Board appointed by the governor.
The two sets of state incentives designed to make the state more competitive are an investment tax credit and a refundable tax credit.
The investment tax credit is geared toward companies wanting to establish a high technology business in the islands. The refundable tax credit offers a 4 percent credit on production expenditures and a 7.25 percent hotel room tax credit while working in Hawaii.
The investment tax incentives are part of the state's program to grow the high technology industry, which includes parts of the motion picture and television industry. Within a five-year period, investors in qualified Hawaii-based projects receive 100 percent tax credit on their investment.
Making its way through this year's legislative session is an expanded wage credit for Hawaii productions. The legislation was introduced to give Hawaii a further advantage over film locations around the world.
"Hawaii understands the importance of tax incentives as part of our overall promotion efforts," said Donne Dawson, manager of the Hawaii Film Office. "We are the premier tropical film location in the world, and the scenic beauty of our locations combined with the quality of our accommodations and infrastructure are unbeatable.
"However, we know that production decisions are not based on aesthetics alone, and we are working very hard to compete on the financial level."
California and Los Angeles film officials are finding it harder than ever to compete because low-cost locations, especially in Canada and Australia, have become so appealing to studios seeking to tighten budgets.
While in California, Dawson and county film commissioners attended the Association of Film Commissioners International Locations Trade Show.
The three-day expo is used to help persuade the entertainment industry to consider shooting locales outside of Los Angeles.
Booths were set up by 207 jurisdictions from 33 countries.
It's a pitch producers love to hear: A variety of locations available for filming, cooperation from government bureaucrats promising to make productions go smoothly, even potential tax breaks.
The marketing has worked well for North Carolina, Vancouver, Australia and several other places throughout the world that have successfully lured away film and TV productions from Hollywood.
Canada decorated its booths with maple-leaf pennants; Australia, one of Hawaii's biggest competitors, had a large booth with the words "Stretch your dollar further in Australia." Georgia and Oklahoma touted recently enacted financial incentives for film productions.
The Film Offices of the Hawaiian Islands won second place for grand booth for its sweeping panoramic color photo of Bali Hai Beach on Kauai, fresh flowers, Hawaiian music and shell lei gifts.