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Currently, the filming industry is booming in New York with several blockbuster movies, including Sex and the City 2 and Wall Street 2 being shot here, as well as several Emmy-award winning shows such as Law & Order: SVU and Ugly Betty. For years the film industry, has enjoyed record growth, mainly due to the fact that the state implemented its favorable tax laws for movie productions five years ago. Now however, the city could see hits like Law & Order packing up their gear and moving to other cheaper locations.
The Mayor’s Film Office seems to be toying with several different ideas that would include charging for movie permits, as well as a plan for charging $3,200 every time a TV show or a movie wants to shoots inside a city building. The Mayor’s Office of Film hopes to earn around $136,000 a year this way.
According to Katherine Oliver, who works as the city’s film commissioner, these fees are needed because of the financial crisis and will be used to “cover administrative costs associated with the use of city buildings by productions.” However, many movie enthusiast fear that these fees could end up resulting in Hollywood simply deciding to move their movie shoots elsewhere.
Another bump in the road for movies filming in New York, is the new law that was passed recently which states that “car chases for movies filmed in the City must be kept under 30 miles/hour”. Furthermore, film executives fear that if one city agency starts imposing fees, then this will encourage other agencies such as the MTA to follow suit, and thus make filming in New York even more cost-prohibitive. The risk here is that New York icons such as Law & Order or even Sex and the City might move their productions to cheaper cities like Detroit or Chicago.
OMG I read this article in the Metro newspaper a few days ago. Yeah its crazy how the city is raising fees for filming..and the top speed for a car chase in ny is 30 mph! its sad…