Jamaica - The Incompetence Continues?

[Historian]

I do not have the government's side of the story as yet, so quite likely my response here is a bit hasty. Nevertheless, it's difficult not to feel a bad taste after reading about bureaucratic mismanagement such as the one in the story belows. And coming off the recent failed divestment of the sugar industry to the Brazilians (which displayed Jamaican negotiating and research incompetence at the highest level) and the continued failure to resucitate the railway service, well....

Hollywood production pulls out after Gov't incentives denied

BY KIMONE THOMPSON Senior reporter thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 08, 2009

The Hollywood producers of Babylon, a US$2.5-million film of a Jamaica-based story, pulled out of the island last week and are considering relocating to Trinidad or Puerto Rico, sources within the local film industry have told the Sunday Observer.

Babylon, an independent film written by Ian Stone, was scheduled to begin shooting here this month but when they failed to get a 25 per cent tax rebate from the Jamaican Government, the producers decided to explore other options.
Natalie Thompson of the Visual and Performing Arts Cluster makes a point during a meeting at Jamaica Trade and Invest yesterday. Brian St Juste is in background. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)
"Puerto Rico gives them 30 per cent rebate, Trinidad is giving them 40, so they're looking to recreate Jamaica in one of these islands... We have Jamaican scripts that are being shot outside of Jamaica," a source with inside knowledge of the process said.

"They didn't get the incentive initially because they explained to me that they went through Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) and were promised these incentives and then they were turned down after months of negotiation," said the source.

The Mickey Barold/Stone Douglass production tells the story of a 12-year-old Jamaican boy who, with the help of a Rastafarian from rural Jamaica (Anthony Mackie) and a British minister (Paul Giamatti), outruns gangsters from a ghetto in the capital city. The total spend of the production would have been US$2.5 million over five to six weeks. Its budget included hotel accommodation, transportation, hiring local crew, restaurant meals and entertainment.

"We stand to lose US$2.5 million... This is a wake-up call for the film industry," said the source. "Babylon pulling out has been the proverbial straw that has broken the camel's back and it's a wake-up call not just to Government but to us as a film unit.

"We now have to become compliant. We are such a strong, viable, money-making unit that we now have to be recognised as important as tourism."

At a meeting yesterday of the Visual and Performing Arts Cluster - a project co-funded by the Government of Jamaica and the European Union to encourage the establishment and growth of cultural enterprises here - film industry players discussed ways to shore up their lobbying efforts in order to make it easier for both foreign and local film producers.

"I don't think the Government truly understands the value of this business," said meeting chairman Brian St Juste.

"[But] we in the industry have to put the blame on ourselves. We need to develop some strategies about lobbying and advocacy," he added.

Among the incentives for which the group is clamouring are tax rebates for production and access to interest-free loans for those who invest in equipment houses.

Minister of information and culture Olivia 'Babsy' Grange is expected to make a statement on the issue tomorrow at a function to mark Reggae Month.

[Mosiah]

You have a right to be suspicious because this sort of thing happens all the time. It happens in our football where sponsors are trying to do something for us and we demand more or just find a way to muck it all up.

[Rockman]

Who gets to pay lower taxes, you or a company that will pack up and leave....(it is your money)?
Well named, Babylon!




Blessed

[Hortical]

They have the leverage and yuh either provide an incentive fi dem or dem leave.

[Hortical]

New Tax Break Spurs Film Production in CT

February 18, 2007
Movies
New Tax Break Spurs Film Production in State

By C. J. HUGHES
THE New Haven Green, with its paths, lawns and trees, can do a decent impression of Central Park, which is why the makers of “The Bronx Is Burning” — a cable-television miniseries about the 1977 Yankees — filmed scenes there last year. New London, Norwich, Waterford and Mystic also stood in for New York, among other places.
Yet the real reason those cameras, and others belonging to major studios, have been rolling in Connecticut, producers say, is a generous new tax credit — the largest of its type in the country, state officials say.
As of July 1, 2006, moviemakers who spend $50,000 can discount their tax bills by 30 percent, putting Connecticut in direct competition with states like North Carolina, New Mexico and Louisiana, which have become popular alternative locations to the twin powerhouses of California and New York.
Although Connecticut’s incentive has been in place for seven and a half months, it already seems to be working some magic.
“In Bloom” and “Reservation Road,” two major Hollywood productions, went to film in Connecticut as soon as the tax break kicked in. “In Bloom,” which stars Uma Thurman, chose sites in New Haven and Norwalk, while “Reservation Road,” with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, opted for Stamford.
As spring approaches, Lions Gate, Warner and Disney are talking to state officials about bringing their projects to Connecticut, said Heidi Hamilton, director of the film division of the State Commission on Culture and Tourism.
“It’s premature to do any name-dropping at this point, but we’re getting phone calls and inquiries now from studios we’ve never heard from before,” Ms. Hamilton said. “It signals that we’re doing the right thing.”
Producers declined to say how much they saved by shooting in the state. Giving corporations any kind of tax breaks — especially as high as 30 percent — can often elicit fierce opposition. Yet in Connecticut, naysayers have seemed relatively quiet.
The before-and-after figures may offer an explanation.
Before last year, movie productions spent $1 million a year in Connecticut. (The pivotal showdown in the “War of the Worlds” in 2005, for example, was filmed at a former tire factory in Naugatuck, and in “Friday the 13th Part 2,” Jason Voorhees skulked around North Spectacle Lake in Kent. Still, Connecticut’s on-screen legacy is conspicuously limited.)
Last year, in contrast, moviemakers spent $52 million in the state — including hotel rooms, rental cars, offices and security guards — with everything but $700,000 being spent after July 1, according to Ms. Hamilton.
“Without the tax break, we wouldn’t have gotten that money,” she said.
For their part, producers said Connecticut offers benefits that are hard to quantify, like its proximity to New York City. Actors are more likely to accept a role if they can drive home at night, said Ron Semiao, a senior vice president of ESPN Original Entertainment, which is producing “The Bronx Is Burning.”
“We would seriously consider filming in the state again,” Mr. Semiao said. “It was a terrific experience.”

[Rockman]

Look, businesses will always want to pay lower taxes, and there will always be countries that offer better tax cuts. The socialist initiatives taken by Bruce demands funding, and I prefer to get it by taxation(increasing it)rather than running to the IMF and World Bank. Reducing it isn't an option.


Blessed

[Historian]

Tax Breaks Are Necessary!!

Look, businesses will always want to pay lower taxes, and there will always be countries that offer better tax cuts. The socialist initiatives taken by Bruce demands funding, and I prefer to get it by taxation(increasing it)rather than running to the IMF and World Bank. Reducing it isn't an option.

Rockman, there is no question in my mind that Jamaica erred greatly in this case. But let’s watch and see what happens when the film makers take their idea to Trinidad, Puerto Rico or elsewhere! And watch their natives get employment opportunities on a project that is about Jamaica, and was conceptualized to feature Jamaica!

The fact is that tax breaks are a major factor in investment s in any country today, and Jamaica is no exception! Is it a coincidence that while Jamaica has superior scenery and human resources, the Bahamas is today the leading film-making venue in the Caribbean? So while Jamaica boasts of its music videos, people in the Bahamas boast of the movies that have been made there, and continue to be made there!

[Assasin]

While taxbreak are needed we have to see if this is just a one off and an not profitable for the people of is it just the way we bungle things.

I may think it is the later but there is a slim chance it maybe the producers pushing the button too far. Let us hear what Babsy have to say.

[Rockman]

Historian, selectively giving companies tax breaks is not a concept lost to Govt, I would argue that is/was the modus aperandi, Bruce's approach is unique, more has to be asked of our businesses. The selective tax cuts are now ill advised.
Running to the IMF/World Bank and selling everything that isn't nailed down is at the very least cosmetic and detrimental.
I support the non action by the Govt regarding Babylon.





Blessed

[Rockman]

Assasin, Taxes are a percentage of something and not some fixed amount that a business is ordered to pay. The only question is how much more of the profits they should keep.




Blessed

[Historian]

Fair Enough

Historian, selectively giving companies tax breaks is not a concept lost to Govt, I would argue that is/was the modus aperandi, Bruce's approach is unique, more has to be asked of our businesses. The selective tax cuts are now ill advised. Running to the IMF/World Bank and selling everything that isn't nailed down is at the very least cosmetic and detrimental.
I support the non action by the Govt regarding Babylon.

Thinking about it after I made my post earlier this evening, I suspect that you made an important point in your statements above, Rockman. In fact, like I stated in my original post at the start of this thread, “quite likely my response here is a bit hasty.”

It might be best (as Assasin also suggested above), if I await Babsy Grange’s side of the story (that is, the government’s side) before I say anything more on the topic.