Governor Doyle has scrapped the movie tax credit program which was spearheaded by his own Lieutenant Governor and non-profit group Film Wisconsin. It also lured recent filmmakers to produce the Johnny Depp flick " Public Enemies "in the Badger State.
Doyle has an alternative that allots $500,000 in grants for permanent movie making jobs. Film Wisconsin Board Member Dave Fantle is critical of the proposal saying that amount of money will not go far in movie production. He also says the plan is first-come, first-serve so if the funds dry up there is no more money left for the year.
Commerce officials say the film tax credits, which are little more than a year old, has not been as lucrative as other business incentives. Fantle disagrees saying the numbers crunchers are not considering the state income tax from people paid to work on the movie and long term tourism brought by popular movie locations.
Senate Republican Ted Kanavas of Brookfield says he'll try to bring the credits back when the Legislature acts on the budget this spring.
