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From: Lisa Poché Calhoun <notification+oh=[address removed]>

Date: Sat, 16 Mar[masked]:07:36 -0700

To: BR Film Peeps<[address removed]>

ReplyTo: Reply to Comment <g+[address removed]>

Subject: Re: [BR Film Peeps] Something worth reading....

Lisa Poché Calhoun commented on Bonnie Campbell Marquette's post in BR Film Peeps. Lisa Poché Calhoun 9:07am Mar 16 Yes, Kari. One of my friends was going into preproduction on a film in Michigan three years ago and less than a week before starting, they moved the film to Louisiana. They gave her the opportunity to move to Louisiana and keep her job....so in less than a week she moved permanently to NOLA. A lot of her coworkers from there moved here in the next two years. Production after production stated that it was that INSTABILITY in Michigan's film incentives that unnerved them and made them leave. Those crew members are now permanent residents of this state and are paying their taxes here, just like the rest of us. They're part of our family now. Comment History Shelby Swatek 9:05am Mar 16 Agreed, when producers feel a program is continually under attack, as it was in New Mexico, they will go elsewhere. The stability of the LA program has been its strength. Keep in mind this is all related to Jindal trying to eliminate income tax and he is going after a lot of industries, not just film. Thankfully many, many people will be up in arms. Karri O'Reilly 9:00am Mar 16 A big point you all should be making is that what the industry fears most is instability in a program - more so than the particulars of the rules. ANY change to a working program will scare producers off. Shelby Swatek 8:59am Mar 16 The only state I know of that has a salary cap is North Carolina where it's $1 million. But they also have a per project cap of $20 million, which would really gut out program. In spite of those limitations, they are actually doing pretty well and just landed Spielberg's series Under the Dome. Karri O'Reilly 8:58am Mar 16 Again, I'm not taking a side - I just wanted to clarify what the cap meant. I have been in dozens of legislative hearings and unfortunately heard crew member after crew member state half truths and their misunderstandings about a particular piece of legislation, and it hurts the cause. Nate is correct - you need to act together and with a unified, fact-driven argument. Lisa Poché Calhoun 8:54am Mar 16 I agree with both Karri and Nate. We've worked for a production company that has moved some films overseas because it's already cheaper. A location manager in Bulgaria will work for a week for what I expect to be paid in a day. I have many film friends that have been living in Louisiana for the past 2 to 3 years because their state lost most of the films just by talking about changes in their tax incentives. It breeds unrest and the productions will not be filmed where there are unknowns in the incentives. In other words, they don't want to invest in a location (like Louisiana) and have the deal change on them before they finish their film. They want to know what they're getting. They would still be able to pay their talent the star's going rate, but they won't be able to get the tax credits on the full above the line expenditures. View All Comments Original Post Bonnie Campbell Marquette 10:13pm Mar 15 Something worth reading.... Dear LFEA Members, Yesterday, Gov. Jindal announced a plan to scale back the motion picture tax credit program by, among other things, imposing a salary cap of $1 million for above-the-line individuals (i.e., cast members). While we recognize that some efficiencies can be obtained through structuring intelligent limitations on cast salaries, a $1 million cap will be extremely detrimental to our industry. To be precise, North Carolina has a $1 million salary cap and last year they had less than one-tenth the amount of film activity as Louisiana. If such a cap is instituted in Louisiana, it will likely result in the bankruptcy of all the major studio facilities in the state and the loss of more than 10,000 jobs. LFEA suggested a reasonable alternative approach to state officials, an approach that could be structured to deliver immediate savings while at the same time preserving Louisiana’s competitiveness within the industry and the thousands of jobs and businesses that have flocked to Louisiana in recent years to build Hollywood South. Unfortunately, our suggested approach was not incorporated into the Governor's package as outlined. Now is the time to speak out to your legislators and explain to them the impact that these changes will have on our industry. We must fight to maintain a strong and competitive entertainment industry in Louisiana. In the coming weeks, we will ask you to rally; we will ask you to attend legislative committee hearings; and we will ask you to call your Senators and Representatives. Our film industry is strong. LFEA will lead the fight to ensure that it continues to grow! More details to come... Sincerely, Will French President Louisiana Film & Entertainment Association (LFEA) View Post on Facebook · Edit Email Settings · Reply to this email to add a comment.

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