Mar 11, 2008 9:57 pm US/Mountain
With Bill, More Movies Might Be Filmed In Colorado
House Finance Committee Will Consider Giving Movie Studios Financial Incentives To Shoot In The State
DENVER (CBS4) ―
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Eddie Murphy in Denver in October for the filming of Nowhereland. (File)
CBS
When Eddie Murphy came to Colorado last October to shoot his film Nowhereland, he and his Hollywood production crew left behind about $3.5 million and they only shot in the state for 12 days.
While the state enjoyed that small economic boost, there have only been about 10 big budget films shot here in the past 5 years and Colorado is now down to only about 1 percent of the total movie-making market share.
That's why there's a push to get more of Colorado featured the big screen. The Colorado Film Commission is backing proposed legislation to give tax incentives for production companies that shoot in Colorado.
According to the commission, Hollywood doesn't come to the state of Colorado anymore just for the scenery.
"The film industry has dramatically changed in the past 5 years. We've gone from 'Who has the best-looking mountains and most beautiful ocean?' to 'What is your incentive funding?'" said Marcia Morgan, the commission's deputy director.
Incentive funding meaning: we'll shoot here if you give us tax credits.
The latest proposal before state lawmakers would give movie makers a 25 percent tax credit on their total expenditure. That means if they spent $100 million on a production here, they would get $25 million back from the state.
"That's the beauty of this plan. It's a no-risk proposition for Colorado. We only give the money back if it's first spent," Morgan said.
Nowhereland's spending spree definitely raised some eyebrows, as well as interest in the bill.
"They bought countless amounts of goods and services from the 16th Street Mall, for example. They filmed in Castle Rock and I understand they spent $10,000 in one afternoon at a King Soopers there," Morgan said.
The bill will be presented to the House Finance Committee next Tuesday. Some of the fine print includes:
-- A provision in the proposed law that says the moviemakers do have to prove where they spent it.
-- The bill has a total cap of $25 million
-- No production gets any money back unless they spend at least $250,000.
The Colorado Film Commission says 12 other states now have similar tax credit incentives.
There have been about 375 movies shot at least partially in Colorado over the last 110 years.
Eddie Murphy's Nowhereland is set for release this fall.
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