NOTES

1. The Blockbuster Scam: How Hollywood Is Ripping You Off

  1.   John Wagner, “Benefits of Maryland’s Tax Credits for Films Are Questioned,” Washington Post, November 15, 2014.

  2.   “MRC Letter to Gov. Martin O’Malley.”

  3.   Jenna Johnson and John Wagner, “Kevin Spacey Whips Votes for Maryland Film Tax Credits,” Washington Post, March 22, 2014.

  4.   Jenna Johnson, “‘House of Cards’ Threatens to Leave If Maryland Comes Up Short on Tax Credits,” Washington Post, February 20, 2014.

  5.   Author interview, October 28, 2016.

  6.   Dominic Patten, “Deal Reached to Film ‘House of Cards’ Season 3 in Maryland After All,” Deadline, April 25, 2014.

  7.   Elaine S. Povich, “Some States Yell ‘Cut!’ on Film Tax Credits,” Pew Charitable Trusts, May 18, 2015.

  8.   Bill Gale, “Is R.I. Becoming a Center for Film Production?,” Backstage, March 6, 2006.

  9.   “Evaluation of the Maryland Film Production Activity Tax Credit,” Department of Legislative Services, September 2015.

  10.   Robert Tannenwald, “State Film Subsidies: Not Much Bang for Too Many Bucks,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, December 9, 2010.

  11.   Pat Garofalo, “And the Loser Is … Taxpayers,” U.S. News & World Report, February 20, 2015.

  12.   Author interview, December 15, 2016.

  13.   Tannenwald, “State Film Subsidies.”

  14.   Gordon Russell, “Giving Away Louisiana: Film Tax Incentives,” Advocate, December 2, 2014.

  15.   Tim Mathis, “Louisiana Film Tax Credits: Costly Giveaways to Hollywood,” Louisiana Budget Project, August 2012.

  16.   Russell, “Giving Away Louisiana.”

  17.   Greg Albrecht, “Film and Video Tax Incentives: Estimated Economic and Fiscal Impacts,” State of Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office, March 2005.

  18.   “Evaluation of the Maryland Film Production Activity Tax Credit.”

  19.   Richard Verrier, “Gov. Brown OKs Tripling State Film Tax-Credit Funding to $330 Million,” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2014.

  20.   Michael Thom, “Fade to Black? Exploring Policy Enactment and Termination Through the Rise and Fall of State Tax Incentives for the Motion Picture Industry,” American Politics Research, 2016.

  21.   Ibid.

  22.   “A Report on the Massachusetts Film Industry Tax Incentives,” Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue, July 2009.

  23.   Steven R. Miller and Abdul Abdulkadri, “The Economic Impact of Michigan’s Motion Picture Production Industry and the Michigan Motion Picture Production Credit,” Center for Economic Analysis, Michigan State University, February 6, 2009.

  24.   Author interview, October 28, 2016.

  25.   Ibid.

  26.   Gerry Smith, “Hollywood Is Running Out of Tombstones,” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 7, 2016.

  27.   Ibid.

  28.   Jessica Stearns, “A Look Past Gone Girl Excitement Reveals a Raw Deal for Missourians,” Show-Me Institute, January 2, 2015.

  29.   Russell, “Giving Away Louisiana.”

  30.   Steve LeBlanc, “Mass. Tax Credits Used to Cover Movie Stars’ Wages,” Associated Press, January 12, 2011.

  31.   Pat Garofalo, “Batman v. Superman v. Taxpayers,” U.S. News & World Report, March 24, 2016.

  32.   Jack Newsham, “Cost of Film Tax Credit: $108,000 per Mass. Job,” Boston Globe, September 19, 2014.

  33.   William Luther, “Movie Production Incentives: Blockbuster Support for Lackluster Policy,” Tax Foundation, January 2010.

  34.   Jessica Stearns, “Gone Girl, Gone Jobs,” Show-Me Institute, November 7, 2014.

  35.   “How Atlanta Became the Hollywood of the South,” Associated Press, August 31, 2015.

  36.   “Evaluation of the Maryland Film Production Activity Tax Credit.”

  37.   Author interview, November 3, 2016.

  38.   Richard Verrier and Saba Hamedy, “Gov. Brown Signs Bill That Triples Tax Credits for Films,” Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2014.

  39.   Sharon Bernstein, “California Triples Tax Breaks for Film Production,” Reuters, September 18, 2014.

  40.   Kevin Litten, “Bobby Jindal Declines to Veto Controversial Film Tax Credit Bill,” Times-Picayune, June 19, 2015.

  41.   Margaret Newkirk, “‘Duck Dynasty’ Keeps Tax Break as Bobby Jindal Cuts Louisiana Colleges,” Bloomberg Politics, May 4, 2015.

  42.   Gordon Russell, “Amid Louisiana Film Downturn, ‘Deepwater Horizon’ Sets New Mark for State Subsidies,” Advocate, September 29, 2016.

  43.   John Tozzi, “How to Sell Your Tax Credit,” Bloomberg Business, April 11, 2013.

  44.   Tannenwald, “State Film Subsidies.”

  45.   “Unilateral Disarmament,” Economist, June 9, 2011.

  46.   Phillip Tutt, “Star Wars Movie Gives This Global Finance Chief a Credit,” CNBC, December 18, 2015.

  47.   “British Film Industry Tax Breaks Approved by EU,” BBC, August 21, 2015.

  48.   Ibid.

  49.   Christian Sylt, “Rags to Riches: Disney Earns £170m in Tax Breaks as UK Film Industry Grows,” Guardian, October 1, 2014.

  50.   Leo Barraclough, “U.K. Pays Out $2.24 Billion in Film Tax Relief in Nine Years,” Variety, December 18, 2015.

  51.   Stuart Kemp, “U.K. Tax Credit Vital to Film Industry Health: Study,” Hollywood Reporter, September 17, 2012.

  52.   Pat Garofalo, “The Jedi Tax Trick,” U.S. News & World Report, December 30, 2015.

  53.   Hannah Shaw-Williams, “How the British Film Industry Became a Hollywood Backlot,” Screen Rant, July 4, 2015.

  54.   Sylt, “Rags to Riches.”

  55.   Jordan Bateman, “It’s Time to Wean B.C. Film Off Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies,” Huffington Post, January 18, 2016.

  56.   Ibid.

  57.   “Tax Incentives for Film and TV Production Around the World,” Reuters, October 18, 2015.

  58.   Richard Verrier, “‘Veep’ and ‘American Horror Story’ Among Shows Relocating to California,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2015.

  59.   Russell, “Giving Away Louisiana.”

  60.   Author interview, October 28, 2016.

  61.   Email from Jonathan Glickman, published by WikiLeaks, November 13, 2014.

  62.   David Zin, “Film Incentives in Michigan,” Senate Fiscal Agency, September 2010.

  63.   Jon Sanders, “Iron Man? No, the Real Hero Is the Super Multiplier,” Carolina Journal, May 14, 2013.

  64.   Tannenwald, “State Film Subsidies.”

  65.   Author interview, October 28, 2016.

  66.   “Tax Credits for Movie Makers? Two Thumbs Down,” Citizens for Tax Justice, May 21, 2012.

  67.   Ted Sherman, “No Sequel: Christie Vetoes Film Production Tax Credits,” New Jersey Advance Media, January 12, 2016.

  68.   Ted Sherman, “N.J. Remains a Hollywood Backlot, Despite End to Tax Credits,” New Jersey Advance Media, August 9, 2015.

  69.   Toby Eckert, “Some States Nix Film Tax Credits, but Cost Is Up,” Politico, August 13, 2015.

  70.   Congressional Research Service, December 9, 2011.

  71.   Author interview, October 28, 2016.

  72.   Author interview, December 20, 2016.

  73.   Author interview, December 19, 2016.

  74.   Author interview, October 28, 2016.