Please, please call Governor Patterson’s Office RIGHT NOW in support of the renewal of the film tax credit. Without it, thousands of NY film production jobs will be lost.
The number is 518-474-4246. All they will ask you for is your name, zip code (say 10001 if you’re not a New Yorker!), and whether you support the tax credit (I hope you do!). They are answering phones as of 6:30pm Friday night, and will be taking calls until Monday morning.
If you are feeling particularly helpful, please leave a message on Speaker Sheldon Silver’s voicemail at 518-455-3791.
You can find more specifics about the program with a Google search. Essentially, the film tax credit is NOT a handout. Of all the government programs created to generate jobs in NYC, the film tax credit is one of the few that is wildly successful. Crazy successful. The budget they allocated to last until 2012 dried up in less than a year with all the film productions that it drew to NYC. The money was not only returned, it generated $1.90 in tax revenue for every dollar spent.
Film productions will leave. I remember when Connecticut enacted a tax credit better than New York’s. We joked that “that’d be the day” when we were working out of Hartford or Stamford. Then, all of a sudden, we were working out of Stamford and Hartford. NY thankfully met their tax credit, and we returned to the city.
When word came around recently that a tax credit was not in Patterson’s budget, production’s began to look at alternatives to NYC. The TV show Fringe moved to Vancouver. Last year, there were 19 new TV pilots shot in NYC. This year, there are 0.
It’s just a phone call, but I can’t tell you how important it is.
-SCOUT
Done AND done, Scout. There was only voicemail at the Governor’s number, too. Well, someone answered, but when I said I was calling to support the film tax credit she said she’d transfer me, and I got a voicemail. But I left a message, and also at Shelly SIlver’s.
Fingers crossed!!
I just called the first number and the lady just answered with a “Hello” — when I explained that I was calling in support of extending the film tax credit, she asked me for my zip code and said that she’d “relay my message.” So beware, they don’t seem to have too much of a set protocol on how to handle calls. Regardless, please do call — lots of jobs are on the line.
Leaving a false zip code if you are not from New York is dishonest.
Why doesn’t the state just lower the tax rate?