In a long piece that may come to be defined as the
definitive history of the defunct Pontiac film studio, The New York Times
offers a detailed analysis of why the lucrative state tax incentives offered to movie investors flopped.
Louise Story documents how hopes for a new Tinsel Town in
the Oakland County seat turned into a very old story – a company demanding big
tax breaks that fails miserably to live up to its promises of new jobs.
Here’s a taste:
“The studio, a state-of-the-art facility fit for
Hollywood blockbusters, had risen from the ruins of a General Motors complex here.
It was the brainchild of a small group of investors with big plans: the studio
would attract prestigious filmmakers, and the movie productions would create
jobs and pump money into the local economy. A glamorous sheen would rub off on
this down-on-its-luck town.
“But in Pontiac, happy endings do
not usually come Hollywood-style. The tale behind the studio, though, was
cinematic in its own right, filled with colorful characters, calls from the
White House and a starring role for Michigan’s taxpayers. Rounding out the cast
was a big-budget Disney movie, ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful.’”
The Times also offers this quote from former governor
Jennifer Granholm, a major source for the story, that may rile up some of her
old Republican foes in Michigan: “You’ve got all these governors who are
offering tax incentives to businesses to move from one state to another. What a
lousy economic strategy that is. You are just moving the chairs around on the
Titanic. Why not have a national economic strategy?”
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