Update from the Michigan Film Office January 2015 Friends – I hope you all had a happy holidays! We are gearing up for the new year here in our office, which includes implementing the changes in Michigan’s film and digital media incentive program under Public Act 396 of 2014 which was enacted on December 26, 2014. These new statutory guidelines will be in effect for all applications from this point forward, as well as any application currently pending with our office. The most significant changes from the previous incentive program are below, but you can see a more complete breakdown here. Our team is working to update our materials and website accordingly, but please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have specific questions. mfochart The new law stipulates that projects will be required to hire Michigan residents in order to be eligible, laying out required hiring ratios on the following schedule: 1 Michigan resident for every non-resident hired – January 1, 2015-September 30, 2017 1.5 Michigan residents for every non-resident hired – October 1, 2017-Sept. 30, 2020 2 Michigan residents for every non-resident hired – October 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2022 3 Michigan residents for every non-resident hired – after October 1, 2022 The law also requires that all deferred, residual or contingent compensation and royalties be subject to taxation in Michigan and applicable taxes be withheld and paid to the state for a period of not less than 12 years following the theatrical release of the qualified production or that all ATL loan outs must be registered to do business in the state. Finally, I want to reiterate that this new legislation updates how our program is administered, but does not impact the current funding process in any way. Our incentive budget will continue to be determined annually as part of the overall budget process. For the current fiscal year, we are operating with an incentive budget of $50 million. We will have lots of opportunities to talk with the industry about the changes to our program in the coming months, starting with Sundance Film Festival, where we will once again be hosting an event on January 24. We will also be attending the Locations Trade Show in Los Angeles March 5-7 and the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco March 2-6. Additionaly we plan to attend SXSW in Austin at the end of March. So please let us know if you will be attending any of these events. And as always, our staff is here to answer any questions you may have in the meantime. We are looking forward to a prosperous new year in 2015. Best, Margaret O’Riley Director, Michigan Film Office
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 00:34:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015