Lansing
Michigan House Committee Looks to End State Film Incentives
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By Ray Wilbur
Listen Up, Lansing
The Michigan Film Office, which helped bring films like “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” to East Lansing, is fighting to keep their incentive program after the Michigan House of Representatives Tax Policy Committee voted to end the program earlier this March. The incentive program was extended until 2021 last year, but state Rep. Dan Lauwers, R-Brockway, wants the program ended by the beginning of the next fiscal year. “The incentive program just isn’t fiscally responsible right now for taxpayers and the state,” Lauwers said. The Michigan Film Office was created in 1979, and meant to assist and attract incoming production companies to boost Michigan’s economy, according to its website. A dramatic shift in in Michigan’s automobile industry in 2008 left many factory and commercial buildings open to be transformed into sound stages and production facilities, and created a need for in-state money, which paved the way for the Michigan Film Office incentive program, director of the Michigan Film Office Jenell Leonard said.