From Crain's New York Business comes this disquieting news about the New York State refundable tax credit for film production that has been integral to the health of our business here. It's titled "Television Production Stalls Out in New York," and its subhead says it all: "The state's tax credit for filming in the Big Apple has become a victim of its own success; the state is out of money and a lack of pilots is threatening jobs."

From the middle of the piece, this salient passage:

Studio and local production executives began to worry several months ago about the state tax credit running out, but the expectation was that it would last until the spring, said Doug Steiner, chairman of Steiner Studios, which is located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Instead, the allocated credits ran out on Monday, according to an executive at one of the networks. Renewal of the program now has to wait until a new budget is passed in Albany. The budget’s deadline is April 1.

Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, who represents the Queens districts of Long Island City and Astoria, where Kaufman Astoria Studios is located, said that studios will start to send work back to New York once they see that the incentive program is still in place.

“If we get through this budget and there’s no funding for this program, that’s when things will fall off a cliff,” he said.

Nikki Finke has more, including news of pilots shooting and not shooting in New York.

We'll have more here on the blog as details emerge.

# posted by Scott Macaulay @ 2/05/2009 09:25:00 PM

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