NARR: Film, TV and commercial production is a big business in NYC. In 2008, the industry paid out about $5 Billion in wages and emp 

Sam Rohn was one of them, he’s a location scout.

 ACT: “The money that comes from the film industry goes into my pocket. Guess why I'm going out to a restaurant and take a cab and paying rent this month, because I have a job and this is what it is.”
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For the film industry in New York City recently, the government giveth and the government taketh away.

The state giveth a 30% tax credit for in-state production. The city ups the ante through a city-funded program called Made in NY that since 2005 has provided a 5% tax credit plus free advertsising to any film or television show that most of its staging in the city.

 Gahan Haskins is also a location scout and manager based in New York City. He says the tax credits have made a big difference for him in choosing where to shoot, whether in the City or just outside.

 ACT: “It’s imperative that they are NY locations and that they are NYC locations because then you get the additional 5%”

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As for the taketh away part, the city government is taking away $300. The Bloomberg administration announced on Tuesday that TV movie and commercial shoots will all have to pay that fee for a permit to shoot in.

For big-budget Hollywood shoots, or big budget commercials, the $300 is a drop in the bucket. Los Angeles already charges at least twice that.

Rohn deals mainly with clients who are looking to set up television commercials. He doesn’t fear the new fee will scare away his business.

ACT: “LA and San Francisco have long-standing fees, and it doesn’t seem to have hurt them.”

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But smaller productions may feel the pinch. Sam Tuthill is trying to make a career in the film industry. He has held jobs from PA, to producer to writer and is nervous the fee will make the kinds of productions he has worked on more difficult.

 ACT: “Most of the things I work on are fairly low budget, and y’know every little bit of money you have to pay makes it that much harder, because it’s really hard to raise money now, for one thing.”

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Applications can claim hardship to have the fee waived, but it is unclear how those claims will be treated once the fee is enacted.

The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, whose representatives declined to comment.

The department has also created an apprenticeship program to try to bring more New Yorkers into the industry.
 
The city would not have instituted this fee if it was afraid of chasing jobs away. And the business is on a small upswing after a deep freeze in late 2008 and early 2009, so the timing makes sense. But the fee is only expected to generate $1 million dollars in revenue for the city. There will be a 30-day comment period and public hearing before the fee becomes law.

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