LANSING – Although it’s a scaled back incentive, Michigan would still be competitive for film and television projects under legislation that also puts more emphasis on in-state workers, proponents said Wednesday.

SB 569 , which would guide how the state’s $25 million film incentive appropriation is handed out, was the subject of testimony before the Senate Economic Development Committee.

Under a draft substitute, the Michigan Film Office will administer the Film Production Assistance Program through September 30, 2017. Projects would receive a sliding scale of incentives, based on whether Michigan personnel and facilities were used and would lessen as the years go by, but the incentive up to 32 percent is less than the credit set to expire at the end of the year.

The film office would have to post information on its website by March 2012 showing how many jobs and investment dollars were produced through the incentive program, and the legislation also calls for an application fee of $200-$5,000, or 0.2 percent of the incentive requested, for each project.

Film industry officials said the state’s incentive reduction this year didn’t kill the industry, but it has significantly hampered the number and quality of jobs available.

Teamsters Executive Director Bill Black said the incentives “put a lot of folks back to work in Michigan.”

“But there’s no doubt things have definitely slowed down (this year),” he said.

A lighting company owner told committee members he did $1.2 million in work last year and would be lucky to break $400,000 this year based on the state’s actions.

While committee members heard how the “Oz: The Great and Powerful” is currently filming in Pontiac’s Raleigh Studios, lawmakers were also told there are more projects Michigan businesses could do – like re-imaging all the “Harry Potter” series to 3D – in the future.

Vans Stevenson, representing the Motion Picture Association of America, said the legislation is a “fair realignment” that will give higher benefits to productions hiring Michigan talent.

“Our companies like to produce movies here,” he said, noting an estimate that 32,000 Michigan jobs have been created since the incentive began.

Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake Township), the committee chair, said stakeholders would continue working on the draft substitute over the next week.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

a>>