If the N.C. Senate has its way in budget negotiations related to the Film and Entertainment Grant, there will be only $10 million for each of the next two fiscal years to award in project grants.
According to the Senate’s appropriations bill, passed Thursday morning, $10 million per year in the Reserves and Debt Service fund is earmarked for film and television incentives. Currently, the state has awarded $10 million to three projects in the last half of the 2014-15 fiscal year. The Senate’s budget would make that amount available for an entire fiscal year.
In contrast, the N.C. House budget allocated $40 million for the grant fund for each of the next two fiscal years.
When details of the Senate’s budget plan were released Monday, state senator Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) expressed his disappointment with the size of the film incentive.
“I am extremely disappointed that my colleagues cannot understand the importance of these grants to the survival of an extremely important industry to our region and State,” Lee said in an announcement. “I will not stop fighting for restoration of meaningful funding for film.”
Now that each chamber of the General Assembly has passed its own version of the budget, a conference committee will work to reconcile the two versions of the budget, and the film incentive funding could change as part of a compromise budget. Lee said he is “hopeful that we will find common ground with the House budget on film in conference.”
Earlier this year, Lee co-sponsored a bill in the Senate to increase the grant funding for film to $66 million from the current level of $10 million. Senator Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) joined Lee in that effort.
David Wilson, owner of T&L Truck Repair in Wilmington, sent a letter to Lee recently, pointing out that his business would suffer if film and television projects stop coming to Hollywood East.
“And it’s not just me; it’s everybody,” Wilson said Thursday.
Wilson has calculated just how big the impact would be for his company, which has repaired all kinds of trucks for projects stretching back to the beginning, with Firestarter. He has figured that film-related revenue historically has accounted for one-sixth of his annual sales. Last year, Wilson said, he earned $33,000 from studios, $27,000 from one trucking company involved in local projects, and $14,000 from another – plus income from several other jobs related to local productions.
That will all go away if film incentives are not sufficient to keep the industry in southeastern North Carolina, Wilson said, adding “Even my CPA said, ‘Man, that’s a lot of money for you to lose.’”
New Hanover County commissioner Beth Dawson said, “Hotels, car rental companies, sign companies, lumber companies,” as she named the types of businesses that will feel the decline of the film industry. In a conversation Thursday, Dawson, who chairs the Wilmington Regional Film Commission, said she remains “cautiously optimistic” that the conference committee will be able to increase the size of the film and entertainment grant pool.
“Our local delegation is working very hard, and they understand the impact to our economy locally and across the state,” she said. “I hope the legislature will see the benefit of retaining this existing business.”
Connie Majure-Rhett, president and CEO of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, echoed Dawson’s views in an email Thursday afternoon.
"The Senate and House budgets are just a starting point for discussion,” she said. “We know our delegation is working diligently to increase the amount included in the final budget for film grants, so we remain optimistic. We look forward to seeing the final determination from the Conference Committee when negotiations are completed."
