New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tonight unveiled a state budget that includes a three-year extension of the state’s film production tax credit. Launched in 2004 and extended by Cuomo in 2013, the $420 million-a-year program isn’t set to expire until 2019 but was expected to run out of money later this year without the additional funding provided for in the new state budget.
An economic impact report conducted for Empire State Development, the state’s economic development arm, found that in one two-year period – 2013 and 2014 – the program had created more than $5 billion in spending in the state, generated nearly $10 billion in total spending throughout the state’s economy, created more than 60,000 jobs and $3.3 billion in earnings.
Many in the state’s booming film and TV community had urged the governor to extend the program, including the New York Production Alliance and the DGA.
“The Directors Guild of America applauds Governor Cuomo for his continued leadership, and thanks him for including a three-year extension of the Empire State Film Production Tax Credit in his budget,” the guild said in a statement. “The positive impact of the incentive on the economy, jobs and local business is enormous. Between 2005 and 2015, as production increased by more than 300%, the earnings of our members who live and work in New York’s communities grew 350%. This simply would not have happened without the incentive.”
