Global readers – hang on - there are local political shenanigans going on that need correction. Keep reading and you may find that you have more in common with film folk than you realize and that corporate disinformation is universally old news.

There is an old-fashioned smear ad campaign going on right now against our industry in North Carolina that is so ridiculously wrong it would be laughable if it weren't so insidious.
(junk flyers in mail boxes, spam ads on tv, squawk talk radio - garbage)

The first glaring mistake is the implication that average tax-payers in this state actually pay for production. In fact, film and television monies come into a state from a studio &/or private investors who finance production. If a production goes to another state –
or country (Cold Mountain, for example – at a reported $79 million dollars),
then no part of that money enters the North Carolina economy.

Another blooper is the assumption that a production is made only by actors. The reality is that there are far more people on the crew list for any given production than on the cast list. That crew is as diverse as a small village and includes carpenters, hair dressers, electricians, teachers, truck drivers and so forth. Each crew member working is potentially buying groceries, gas, cars – and paying taxes in North Carolina. Film crew helping to pay for schools, roads and locally subsidized pharmaceutical companies.

Their worst mistake is in deliberately causing confusion over the word “incentive”.

in·cen·tive n.

Something, such as the fear of punishment or the expectation of reward,

that induces action or motivates effort.

This is where the carrot enters the discussion,  Rewards can take many forms (carrots, rebates, tax breaks - for example) just as punishments vary (yelling, brandishing a stick or publishing untruths to a concerned public.)

The North Carolina Film Incentive is a Refundable Tax Credit - a portion of a production’s taxed budget spent in the state of North Carolina refunded after the show is complete and eligible accounts audited.

This is simple:
welcome the established, clean. low-impact, high-profile film industry in North Carolina
or continue to chase it away - waving tawdry, inaccurate hype.

Please - search for yourself. Think about how much you know and trust about your sources - your own opinion - and are you willing to put your name on the line?

Kelly R. Tenney
Producer, One Tree Hill
Co-Founder, Southern Gothic Productions
Governor Appointed Member of the NC Film Council

If you care to/can bear to read more:
Star News Editorial: Buyer [and Voter] Beware
Letters to the Editor: Foe of tax incentives, unless it's HIS company!
Film industry representatives lash out at political ads partly funded by PPD founder
PPD chief jumps into N.C. political fray
Current North Carolina Film Incentive Laws