NEW YORK, Sept. 6 -- Bombay makes more movies, and Hollywood is more glamorous. New York, however, is auditioning to become the movie capital of the world, thanks to an industry that generates more than 70,000 direct jobs and $10 billion in direct spending.
It comes to no surprise that other cities, like Glasgow or Toronto, are trying to emulate New York's success. But according to Patricia Reed Scott, commissioner at the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting, "that won't be easy."
New York offers free permits, free police, free parking and free locations, a package that is not provided by any other American city, argues Reed. Her office -- with a budget of $2.5 million and 19 employees -- sorts out between 60 and 90 permits every day. It is "a great challenge" to match film-making companies' needs and the general public's interests, she says, but "our job is to find a way to say yes."
The office handles information and functions from production guidelines and information on how to be an "extra" in the movies, to permits for shooting in the streets and sunrise timetables. Even in a huge city like New York, pretty amazing things can be done. For example, for the film "Under Siege," tanks were driven over the Brooklyn Bridge.
Film making in New York enjoys an 8.25 percent sales tax exemption and can take advantage of low interest loans. In 1996, the State Legislature removed the 4 percent city sales tax on film and television production consumables thanks to Major Rudolph Giuliani's lobbying.
Is it unfair for the rest of the mortals that dwell in tax-greedy Manhattan? Reed says no
She thinks this attitude has paid off, with television and film production at extraordinary heights. For the seventh consecutive year, television and film production reached historic levels in 2000, according to the latest information at the Mayor's Office.
The Boston Consulting Group released a study in June 2000, which found that television, film and commercial production contributed $10 billion in indirect spending to the New York City economy in 1999. Taking into account pre-production, post-production and studio work not counted in the city's numbers, this study concluded that the total impact of production on the city's economy was double the amount of location shooting alone.
"Visual media is rapidly evolving and is among the most important economic sectors for New York, in terms of job generation and contribution to the local economy. Other localities are aggressively seeking to attract production business from New York," said the consulting firm.
In New York you find a whole world built around the performing arts. There is a theatre district, dotted with little drama houses, stages and studios. There are various film galas, like the New York Film Festival, the NYU International Student Film Festival and the New York Underground Festival, and schools such as The New York Film Academy, the School for Film and Television or the New York Independent Film School. You have Broadway and its mass-magnet musicals as well; or places like The Trilogy Theatre, that accepts films never shown in the commercial stream.
But New York's privilege position in this industry is being seriously challenged. The Boston Consulting Group notes that other locations are being "very aggressive in providing direct subsidies" in order to compete with New York. And it warns that the sector is "at risk without public and private support." The Canadian government and many of its cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are directly rebating 22 percent of a production's labor costs, using Canadian taxpayer funds. As a result, more major studio and independent productions, which are written for and set in New York, are splitting work with Canada.
For Commissioner Reed a question remains about whether this constitutes an unfair trade practice. That is why her office has mockingly included in its next campaign "real bagels" and "Toronto's like margarine ... New York's like buttah" among the 10 top reasons to shoot in New York.
However, for struggling film producers, New York can also be a nasty place, in spite of the bagels.
"It must be great fun making a documentary, they tell me, but in fact is a throat-cutting, nerve-breaking, business. You are fighting all the time to get funds in a very competitive atmosphere", complains Chris Courtney, an independent producer.
As documentary producers, she said, "our needs are different than movie makers, we don't need a studio or actors. Our costs are also lower.But we face stiff competition for funding."
New York is confronting its vigorous competition from other cities. And it looks like NYC may need more than just "buttah" to keep this industry's wheels greased.
