Three years ago, Baltimore native Barry Levinson had a new movie ready to go before the cameras.
“Man of the Year,” starring Robin Williams, was set in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. But when his production company ran the numbers, shooting the film in Maryland wasn’t an option.
The film instead went over the border to Toronto, where the monetary incentives were better.
» “Man of the Year” (2006): filmed in Toronto
» “Annapolis” (2006): filmed in Philadelphia
» “Hairspray” (2007): filmed in Toronto
» “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008): original short story set in Baltimore, movie setting moved to New Orleans
Levinson on Tuesday joined local economic development groups to call for an increase in the state’s incentives for movies shot in Maryland.
A new law would increase to 28 percent the cost rebate to movies intended for national distribution that spend at least $500,000 in Maryland. The rebate would be paid after production is complete.
The state currently offers a 25 percent rebate through the Department of Business and Economic Development, a budgeted item that received a $4 million appropriation last year and currently has $2.5 million remaining, all of which has been spoken for by various projects, according to the department. A $2 million appropriation has been slated for next year.
But Connecticut has generated $2.5 billion in film industry spending over the last few years to Maryland’s $60 million, Levinson said. Connecticut offers three types of tax credit programs for production, infrastructure and digital animation.
Levinson set movies including “Diner,” “Tin Men” and “Liberty Heights” in the city, and was executive producer of the TV series “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
“There used to be a very strong [film] infrastructure here, but it’s dissipating because too many films are going to other states,” Levinson said. “It breaks my heart to write a movie that takes place here that I can’t shoot here.”
The proposed rebate increase comes as the state struggles with a $1.9 billion budget shortfall, with program and jobs cuts included in the budget proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Though receptive to the idea of more films being shot in the state, O’Malley said the budget crunch might not allow for big incentive increases.
“I think in these really difficult, tough times, I can’t look at people that are already taking cuts and sacrificing [and tell] them that we should be cutting big cash-back checks to Hollywood,” O’Malley said at a news conference on budget issues.
However, lawmakers said the credit could be an important economic driver in a tough economy.
“If it’s a stimulus for creating jobs and generating income, it would be penny-wise and pound-foolish not to move forward with the proposal,” Senate President Thomas Mike Miller said Monday after honoring Levinson with a resolution.
Staff Writer Len Lazarick contributed to this story.
