Economic Inspiration

Maine offers many great opportunities and a wonderful setting for raising a family.
Unfortunately, Maine has not developed into a great setting for economic opportunities. I am hoping that this blog can become a part of helping to create change that will improve the economic environment in Maine.

Film and television production can become a clean, sustainable and consistent part of the Maine economy. As evidence of this we only have to look to our brethren New England States.

Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut all have passed film production incentive plans that are among the most progressive in the United States and 2.5 to 3 times more than the incentives that Maine passed in the spring of 2006.

Those states are reaping millions in economic reward. Just to back this statement up, here is a link to a recent article on Massachusetts and its new incentive plan: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/07/21/hollywood_will_be_makin_it_in_massachusetts/

There will be people who argue that additional film incentives will cost the state money. The simple fact is that money from film production that comes into the state ignites the economy first before any money is returned to the film project. If no films come to Maine to shoot we haven’t lost a penny. If we do not have additional incentives, Maine will lose out on most of the possible film projects that express interest in shooting here because even though Maine has some incredible, distinct locations, they can be replicated or faked through movie magic in states with the best incentives.

Any feature film we do get will come when someone like Richard Russo (Empire Falls) or Todd Field (In the Bedroom) who has a deep commitment to Maine, reaches down and fights to bring the film project here. Thank you to both of you.

I think we all can understand the immediate positive economic impact of film production relating to employment and sales of goods, lodging and food. The magic of film is how it keeps giving back to the economy long after the production crew has left town.

50 years ago Peyton Place was shot in Camden. In the June 9th Portland Press Herald there was article celebrating the 50th anniversary. It contained the following quotes:

"After the movie was released, tourists flocked to Camden in search of the places where "Peyton Place" had been filmed. A half-century later they're still coming, and Camden has pricey real estate and high incomes.

"If there was a seminal event that changed the mind-set of the people here, this was it," Bregy said. "Having a major motion picture made here made people think this must be a unique place."

There are still people coming to Camden because Peyton place was shot there.

The most recent feature film shot in Maine was the award winning Empire Falls.

Kerry Pomelow , who purchased the “Empire Grill” in Skowhegan with her business partner Tom Miller after the film was shot, says that she estimates that 30% of her overall business comes from people curious about the grill because they saw the movie “Empire Falls”.

These are real, down home Maine examples of economic development because of film production. There are hundreds of these same examples from these two great films and from other films that have shot in Maine. The true, positive economic impact can’t be accurately calculated because the information can’t be tracked but the results are real and they escalate into millions of dollars that Maine never would have seen if those films did not shoot here.

Every citizen in Maine will benefit if we are able to pass the additional film incentives and bring more film production to Maine.

In the meantime we need to reach out to Maine’s in-state residents and invite them to get involved. At the same time we need to aggressively market Maine as a beautiful state to live and produce movies in.

That is the simple point of this blog. I invite you to post your opinion and please invite your friends. We can make great things happen!