Film Tax Credit

CASE STUDY: Keeping the Film Tax Credit Alive

While other tax credit programs were being slashed in the state budget, the Triad Strategies government relations team worked to ensure that funding for the film tax credit remained intact.

Triad represents Sun Center Studios, a top-notch film studio in Delaware County. The facility has two brand new soundstages, 30,000 square feet of production space and a 50,000 square foot warehouse for filming.

In 2013, the Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan movie, “After Earth” was filmed at Sun Center Studios – the first Qualified Production Facility in the state.  The Harrison Ford-film Paranoia was also filmed there, in addition to photo shoots for Under Armour and Political Animals, and commercials for Arby’s and the Pennsylvania Lottery.

But Sun Center and the other production companies in the state would not be able to thrive without the support of the film tax credit program that exists in Pennsylvania. Production companies are eligible for a 25% tax credit, and an additional 5% for using a Qualified Production Facility, such as Sun Center Studios. This extra credit is, in large part, due to the lobbying efforts of Triad Strategies on behalf of Sun Center Studios.

These credits allow studios to financially entice major productions to come to Pennsylvania, bringing jobs and revenue into the state for the duration of each project. Production companies have generated approximately 1.8B in economic activity and support 14,500 jobs in Pennsylvania.

Our lobbying team worked with the General Assembly and governor’s office throughout the budget process to show the value of the film tax credit program in terms of added local revenue and employment. In 2014, an austere, no-new-recurring-revenue budget was passed but the funding levels for the film tax credit remained the same despite reductions in many other credit programs.