For Every $1 Invested in the Minnesota Film and TV Board, $33 has been returned to the state

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 2003-2005 budget proposes cutting the operating budget from the Minnesota Film and TV Board (MFTVB). The MFTVB currently receives $341,000 annually from the state of Minnesota. Snowbate, the MFTVB's $500,000 incentive program for film and television producers, was cut in arrears from the state's 2002 budget.

The MFTVB-an economic development agency serving the state's entire film, TV, corporate media and commercial spot production community-is not an arts organization. As the only advocate for this industry, the MFTVB brings pure revenue to the state by attracting business and serving the businesses that make this state home.

The numbers for this industry are impressive:

JOBS

• The film, television, corporate media and commercial spot industry directly employs 8,971 people in Minnesota. Indirectly, industries such as hotels, airlines, restaurants, vehicle rental, tourism, accounting, and insurance are also greatly affected by the presence of production in the state.

TAX REVENUE

• In 2000, the latest year for which the Minnesota Department of Revenue, Minnesota Dept. of Economic Security and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis has figures, $33,792,184 was paid to the state by this industry in indirect business and payroll taxes.

RANKING

• Minnesota ranked #1 in total production days nationally in 1999 and 2000 for all reporting states according to Locations Magazine.

FEATURE FILM REVENUE

• From 1998-2002, feature films brought $33,414,142 in new revenue to the state. Since 1990, more than 90 films have been made in Minnesota.

TV REVENUE

• Eighteen nationally broadcast television series are currently based in Minnesota. Since 2000, the first year the MFTVB began keeping records, $24,565,186 in new revenue has been brought to the state. This figure does not include other TV products such as one-off specials and documentaries and TV station-based production including ShopNBC, the nation's 2nd largest home shopping network which employs 105 people full-time and occupies a 150,000 square foot production space in Eden Prairie.

COMMERCIAL/CORPORATE REVENUE

• Minnesota has long been known as a major production center for television commercial production and corporate media production. This sector of the industry produced approximately $100 million worth of business last year.

Last month, the $500,000 Snowbate incentive program was cut in arrears for the current financial year. The loss of this program, in which 10% of virtually all Minnesota production expenses up to $100,000 are refunded to the producers of feature films, television movies and national television series giving them an incentive to shoot in the state, means the probable loss of three feature films and one television mini-series. Bro, a $5 million film starring Bill Paxton, Paul Bunyon, a $15 million film, Sorry Baby, a $43 million film from Beacon Entertainment (Air Force One, Spy Game) and the largest budgeted film to seriously consider Minnesota as their primary location and Touchstone Entertainment's (a division of Disney) TV mini-series Little House on the Prairie are all no longer considering shooting in Minnesota because of the loss of this incentive program. Combined, the loss of these projects means the loss of almost 1000 jobs and tens of millions of dollars in new revenue for the state.