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A conservative policy center in Midland tosses rotten tomatoes at Sam Raimi's new film, "Oz the Great and Powerful."
Tom Gantert and Jarrett Skorup of the Mackinac Center aren't panning the film that opened Friday, just its $39.7 million in Michigan Film Office tax incentives. "Michigan taxpayers chipped in substantially for the production through the state’s generous film subsidy program," writes Skorup, a research associate.
The Mackinac Center not only takes aim, it opens fire multiple times. Three critical posts totaling more than 1,400 words went up over two days at Capitol Confidential, the research center's blog.
Where film credit backers see economic development, employment opportunities and state promotion, the two writers see "a policy flop," as Skorup puts it.
"Michigan residents should be seeing the film for free," he suggests, tapping calculator keys for this argument:
Michigan has 4.5 million individual taxpayers, and the state gave the film studio $39.7 million to shoot the movie in Pontiac. That works out to a subsidy of $8.82 per taxpayer, while average ticket prices nationwide are $7.96.
Under that approach to determining personal ROI, federal taxpayers presumably deserve free admission to National Parks and rides on Air Force transports, naval vessels and Coast Guard cutters.
"Big Hollywood Bailout"
Gantert views film tax credits, which are based on a percentage of movie makers' in-state spending, as particularly odious when they go to a healthy enterprise such as Walt Disney Studios. "Big Hollywood Bailout," says the headline atop his post.
As the Jackson-based writer sees it, perhaps without benefit of a calculator, $39.7 million in 2010 credits to a Disney-related production company for shooting "Oz" in a Pontiac studio "played a part in allowing one of the most lucrative companies in the world to post a record $4.8 billion in profits."
Got that now? Michigan played a part in affecting the studio's bottom line with a credit amounting to eighth-tenths of 1 percent of that year's profits.
Imagine Disney chief exec Robert Iger's glee over that game-changing windfall. Talk about "Great and Powerful."
There's no glee at the Mackinac Center, though. Skorup is dismayed that film credits get bipartisan support in Lansing.
The program expired, but the Legislature, dominated by Republicans, overwhelmingly decided [in December 2011] to keep it around.
Despite "conservatives" who claim to not like the government picking winners and losers and "liberals" who say government shouldn't benefit large corporations and big business, Michigan politicians continue to spend taxpayer money on the program. The current state budget set aside $50 million for film tax credits and political leaders on both sides of the aisle are pushing for more.
A deal by Granholm
In one of his two essays, Gantert on Friday criticizes state assistance for the Oakland County production studio used by Raimi, a Birmingham native.
Michigan Motion Pictures Studios, which is being celebrated in the local media for having made the movie, "Oz: The Great and Powerful," in Pontiac, has missed its last three payments on $18 million in bond obligations.
Under a deal made in 2010 by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the State of Michigan Retirement Systems is on the hook for those missing payments.
Reader comments under the three Capitol Confidential commentaries are mostly supportive, though a Grand Rapids IT executive objects to selective facts about "Oz." "Hey Jarrett," Michael Mast posts on Friday, "what about the $105 million the movie spent in the state of Michigan? Why are you disregarding that?"
The film office is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the folks behind the successful Pure Michigan tourism ad campaign.
So far this fiscal year, 10 film and TV projects been awarded $10.8 million as credits for $37.9 million in spending, a March 7 news release says. "These projects are expected to create 729 Michigan hires with a full time equivalent of 218 jobs," adds Michelle Begnoche, the office's public relations manager.
"Oz" employed 683 Michigan crew members and actors, director Raimi says.
Photo from Disney Enterprises, Inc.
