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The Bottom Line: Film tax breaks spawn some Valley blockbusters
By John Yantis, Tribune
May 10, 2006
Tax incentives that kicked in this year are leading to some Hollywood heavy hitters finding their way to the Valley. Local casting agent Faith Hibbs-Clark is in the midst of finding talent for two major motion pictures whose headliners include Oscar winners.
Owner of Good Faith Casting, she is also beginning to cast for
“The Kingdom” a drama-thriller written and produced by Michael Mann and starring Jamie Foxx. Filming begins June 12 on a set near Williams Gateway Airport. The film, according to Internet Movie Database, is about a team of U.S. government agents sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.
“The
budget on that is $200 million and we have never ever had a film like that in Arizona,” she said. “They’re building a whole city out in Mesa and then destroying it and blowing it up.”
“The Savages,” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, starts filming next week in Sun City. The film, part comedy, part drama, is about a sister (Linney) and brother (Hoffman), who have to care for their ailing father despite the fact the three have a distant relationship.
At the start of 2006, Arizona began giving a transferable tax credit for motion picture production costs in the state. If companies spend $250,000 to $1 million in Arizona, they are eligible for a 10 percent income tax credit. If they spend more than $3 million, the tax credit jumps to 20 percent.
Production companies are exempt from sales and use taxes if they purchases machinery or equipment, rent hotels, cater food or construct buildings for their shoots.
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$200 million budget film...filming in Az...
