Maryland, Virginia and the District are locked in battle for big Hollywood dollars as they search for projects that could bring cash infusions for strapped local budgets as the economy continues to falter.
A Hollywood production brings more to town than just the excitement of spotting faces usually seen only on the TV or movie screen. In one day, a feature film crew can spend as much as $500,000 on catering, hotel rooms and local workers. In just one week last year, the producers of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” spent $2.5 million in the District, city officials said. Washington has a natural pull with its unique backdrop of national monuments.
| Concessions |
| What’s being offered to attract filming to the region: |
| » Maryland — $7.5 million in tax breaks for movies and television |
| » Virginia — $5 million in tax breaks, $2 million in grants for certain projects |
| » D.C. — No cash available, but trying to be “creative” |
| Coming attractions |
| Coming soon to a neighborhood near you: |
| » Virginia — “Abraham Lincoln,” a Stephen Spielberg biopic starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln |
| » Maryland — “VEEP,” an HBO series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus |
| » D.C. — Nothing definite, but looking at a Netflix series called “House of Cards.” |
But it’s also “an incentive driven industry,” said Maryland Film Office Director Jack Gerbes. “When we talk to executives, they say, ‘How much do you have to give us?’ ”
“We all compete over the same projects,” said Virginia’s film commissioner, Rita McClenny, noting that a production can capture the images it needs in the District and then retreat to Virginia or Maryland for the rest of the project. “If someone says they’re planning to film in Maryland, I’ll say, ‘Why do you want to go there?’ ”
One reason might be Maryland’s new tax incentive package, pushed through the legislature this year by Gov. Martin O’Malley. At $7.5 million, Maryland is in position to offer more than the $5 million in tax credits Virginia will offer next year, though the commonwealth has $2 million in grant funding available for some productions. Last month, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray traveled to Hollywood to entice projects to the city. With no cash to hand out, Gray said he hoped he could build key relationships.
“The efforts have been stepped up,” Gerbes said.
They also appear to be working. Gerbes said O’Malley’s package helped Maryland capture HBO’s new series “VEEP,” starring “Seinfeld’s” Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a former U.S. senator who becomes vice president. While filming the show’s pilot in Baltimore last winter, HBO shelled out $6 million in the city.
Virginia offered $4.6 million in tax and grant incentives to lure Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln biopic. Filming starts next year. Gov. Bob McDonnell said he hopes the production will help the state beat the $346 million spent and 2,700 jobs created by television and movie projects in Virginia in 2009, when HBO spent $200 million filming its “John Adams” miniseries there.
D.C. Film Office spokeswoman Leslie Green said that because the city’s incentive plan to attract filmmakers is unfunded, the city is “working to revise find other ways to attract them.” For generations, the city’s iconic vistas and unique sites like the White House, the Capitol and the city’s famous monuments have been an irresistible draw for movies from “The Day the Earth Stood Still” to “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” to “All the President’s Men.” But more recently the District’s focus has been on episodic television series. A Netflix project, “House of Cards,” and portions of “VEEP” are targets, Green said.
Without money “we have to be creative,” Green said. “We need to compete.”
