By IANS,
Los Angeles: Migration of film and television production units from California to other places has cost jobs of over 36,000 people and a loss of around $2.4 billion in wages over the last decade.
The Milken Institute, an American non-profit economic think tank, attributes the job losses to the flight of movies and television shows to other US states and countries. In addition to countries such as Canada and Britain, over 40 US states now compete for a piece of the $57 billion US production industry, Xinhua reported.
In a bid to overcome the losses, California implemented a film tax credit programme, which offers filmmakers up to 25 percent credit on production expenses.
Since the tax-incentive programme was implemented, on-location filming has increased in the state, particularly in Los Angeles, according to report by Film L.A., an agency that coordinates film permits.
A total of 11,134 individual production days were registered in the second quarter this year in Los Angeles, an increase of 16 percent, compared to 9,597 in the same period last year.
“There’s no doubt that incentives have been drawing jobs and wages away from California,” Kevin Klowden, director of the Milken Institute California Centre, said.
“While California’s incentive package appears to be working, we have a lot to catch up to get back the share of production we had in 1997,” he said.