Movies bring money to area
Making movies in southwestern Pennsylvania is more than a novelty for area residents. It’s also an economic force. As Brownsville sees the production of its third film this summer with the filming of “Abduction,” it is also seeing an influx of money to the borough’s operating budget. “Pie Head: A Kinda’ True Story,” is a fairly low budget production, utilizing minimal equipment and staffing, but two of the productions, “Riddle” and the current production, “Abduction” are larger budget films, involving the closing of streets and local businesses.
Brownsville Borough received $6,500 in fees for the production of “Riddle” and another $6,000 for the “Abduction” shoot.
“They are leasing the parking lot areas and the police are getting extra work. They contract our police officers when they are off duty for their security,” said council President Jack Lawver. “It brought in some unexpected revenue to the borough because of leasing the parking lots. It was a little boost for us that we didn’t expect. We can’t hinge our budget on it every year.”
The borough has an operating budget of $839,335 this year.
Lawver said the film company has also rented the Sons of Italy hall as a meeting place for the crew. Lawver said the film company also entered into agreements with businesses including Fiddles, Krause’s Furniture and Dee Dee’s Studio of Dance to compensate them for the days they will be closed because of the filming.
Brownsville Free Public Library also received some much-needed funding for allowing the building to be used as part of the set for “Riddle.”
Dawn Keezer of the Pittsburgh Film Office said the productions are bringing money to the region beyond the direct payments for leases.
“This is one business sector in the commonwealth that’s thriving,” said Dawn Keezer, the director of the Pittsburgh Film Office. “With the film tax credits, we’re one of the top five destinations for movies.”
Keezer said more than 30 feature films and television productions have been shot in the Pittsburgh region between 2006 and the present, with the state’s film tax credit one of the major draws for producers.
Keezer noted that since the film industry is not dependent on a bricks and mortar facility, it is extremely mobile and without the tax credit, the revenue could easily go elsewhere. The film office estimates that every public dollar invested in the film office has had $102 in economic impact.
Keezer said production companies may receive a 25-percent tax credit once they spend 60 percent of their film budget within Pennsylvania if they apply in advance for the credit. The spending is subject to audit, Keezer said.
“We know that they’ve actually spent the money before they get anything back,” Keezer said.
What the production companies receive is credit toward their tax bills in the state. On a production with a $10 million budget, the production company would receive a $2.5 million tax credit once it has spent $6 million in Pennsylvania. The production company may use that credit toward its own tax liability or give it or sell it to a business associate.
Keezer said the tax savings actually generates more money for the state because of the way the film industry supports the area economy. According to a film office fact sheet, film productions accounted for nearly 30,000 hotel room nights in 2009 and revenue from room rental due to film productions is up 800 percent since 2005 according to hotel representatives.
That effect has been seen in Fayette County, with several production crews making the Holiday Inn their home base over the past year.
“It’s not only helped us room-wise, but food and beverage-wise as well,” said Lisa Malago, the director of sales at the Uniontown Holiday Inn.
When the television pilot for the medical series “Three Rivers” was shot at the former Brownsville Tri-County Hospital in 2009 the cast and crew stayed at the Holiday Inn, Malago said, renting the equivalent of 729 room nights. When “Riddle” was shot in Brownsville earlier this year, the cast and crew spent 416 room nights at the hotel.
“It’s because it’s full-service. We have the lounge and the restaurant on the premises, so when they’re done shooting for the day they can come back here and kick back,” Malago said.
Malago said the hotel also has common areas and meeting rooms that many of the other area hotels don’t offer. Malago said many of the movie crew members are brought in by van and don’t have transportation of their own, so it’s important that they are able to get all they need at the hotel. It also helps that the hotel has 178 rooms.
“We’re about the only one that can accommodate a group that size and not disrupt our regular clientele,” Malago said. “The Holiday Inn co-owns the Fairfield Inn, so if we have overflow, we can use the rooms at our sister hotel. There’s a bigger demand on the hotels in this area than people realize.”
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort has also housed some of the stars during the area productions.
“We do a really good job of staying quiet about things. We have a lot of celebrity-type guests there all the time. Every guest is important to us,” said Chris Plummer, manager of the resort. “I’ve been in this region forever and it seems that just recently they’ve been doing more movies. I hope they keep filming in our region, because it’s great for everybody.”
Keezer said there has been an increase in car rentals in the region, with area rental agencies reporting a 250-percent increase since 2005. Union jobs in the theater industry in the area have also increased.
“We’ve quadrupled the number of union workers since the inception of the tax credit in 2007,” Keezer said.
Keezer said there are now more than 300 members of the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees Studio Mechanics Local 489 and two major soundstage developments have opened since 2007. In addition, local production companies such as Smithfield Street Productions have been formed. Smithfield Street Productions has produced three feature films in the past three years, adding to the area job creation.