House panel says 'cut' to film bill

6-5 vote kills tax incentives to lure movie production

By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 10:49 a.m., March 18, 2008
Updated 09:45 a.m., March 19, 2008

Javier Manzano / The Rocky

John Ashton, of Fort Collins, who has more than 65 film and television credits, including the role of Detective Sgt. John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop movies, testifies Tuesday on behalf of an incentives bill aimed at luring more movie shoots to Colorado.

A Colorado House panel voted to kill a proposed bill that would have offered a total of $25 million a year of financial incentives to entice producers to shoot movies in Colorado.

After more than two hours of testimony and debate about whether the measure would help Colorado compete with other states to attract films or merely give public subsidies to wealthy Hollywood producers, the House Finance Committee voted it down 6-5.

"We had a chance to bring an industry back to Colorado, but the Finance Committee could not get past seeing it as a subsidy," said Rep. Cheri Jahn, D- Wheat Ridge, one of the bill's chief sponsors. "They apparently don't get it."

But other lawmakers on the panel worried that the tax credits would divert money from pressing needs such as roads and education.

Denver-based investment banker Jim Bunch told lawmakers that the Mile High City had a chance to build a much bigger film industry and studio presence but only if it can launch a more aggressive incentives program than it has now.

"The other states are not having any trouble justifying their financial incentives," said Bunch, co-founder of Green Manning & Bunch.

New Mexico and most other states have strengthened film incentive programs, bringing in numerous movies that originally had been written with Colorado landmarks and scenery in mind.

"There's no reason why not to build a business here of making film," said Irvin Kershner, director of Star Wars: Episode V Â? The Empire Strikes Back, the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, Robocop 2 and others. "You've got every advantage."

Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, a major proponent of the Colorado legislation, called New Mexico's focus on film incentives "the most significant economic development tool for their state in years."

The state, which industry insiders have dubbed "Tamalewood," has attracted about $1.5 billion of film productions in the past few years.

John Ashton, an actor who lives in Fort Collins and has appeared in more than 65 film and television productions, testified on behalf of the bill.

"It's just time for Colorado to step up to the plate and be competitive with the other states," said Ashton, whose work has included playing the role of Detective Sgt. John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop movies.

He said he plans to direct a film called Coyote Justice, based on the fictitious resort town of Coyote, Colo. He wants to shoot the movie at a Colorado ski area but likely will have to do so in Taos, N.M., because his financial backers want the film to be produced in a state with an active incentives program.

"The film industry has gone from being location-driven to incentive-driven," said Kevin Shand, executive director of the Colorado Film Commission. "Productions will go wherever they can make it cost-effective."

The proposed bill would have allowed for transferable tax credits for film or television productions that spend $250,000 or more in Colorado. Unlike New Mexico, which has no limits on its incentives, the program would have been capped at $25 million a year.

kelleyj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5068

Quiet on the set

Colorado has attracted big-name movie productions over the decades with its rugged scenery and mountain backdrops. But financial incentives tend to be the deciding factor in where Hollywood sets up film shoots these days.

When Nowhereland, starring Eddie Murphy, came to town in the fall, producers called for just two weeks of the production to be staged in the Mile High City, even though the film is supposed to be set here.

Catch and Release, which starred Jennifer Garner, is also set in Colorado. But only a tiny portion of the filming took place in Boulder. The rest of the movie was shot in Canada.

A sampling of notable movies filmed in the state:

* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969

* Sleeper, 1973

* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1988

* City Slickers, 1990

* Dumb and Dumber, 1993

* Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, 1994

• March 18, 2008

  11:02 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  italiaboy9 writes:

  Hey just get the taxpayers to pay the actors, then charge us $15 a seat to watch that same movie at the crappy theater filled with disrespectful obnoxious youth and dirty seats

• March 19, 2008

  8:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  robinbird666 writes:

  This is an unfortunate development and hopefully it will go before the electorate again in six months. Meanwhile, films like Little Miss Sunshine and the AMC cable series Breaking Bad will continue to be produced out of New Mexico. (Neither production bothers to disguise location).

  Lionsgate Films has opened their own office there to take advantage of the incentive. We won't see that happen here until there's a change here in Colorado.