‘Walking Dead’ Producer Gale Anne Hurd Urges Expanded Film Credit
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‘Walking Dead’ producer Gale Anne Hurd urges expanded film credit
March 13, 2012 | 1:57 pm
Gale Anne Hurd is one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers, having been a producer on such big hit action movies as “The Terminator” and “Aliens” and now AMC’s successful zombie drama series “The Walking Dead.” But Hurd hasn’t worked in California for nearly a decade, largely because of more favorable film tax credits and rebates offered in other locales. A fourth-generation Los Angeles native, Hurd would like to see that change. She’s among many high-profile film and television producers who are hoping California will extend and expand its tax credit to make it more competitive with the likes of Georgia, New York and Illinois. Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) recently introduced a bill that would extend the program, which launched in 2009 and is set to expire next year, through 2018. Hurd, co-founder of the Producers Guild of America’s annual Produced By Conference, spoke to On Location about her views on the state credit and what Sacramento could do to strengthen it.
You live in L.A. but rarely shoot here. Why not?
I film my TV series [“The Walking Dead”] out of state and have not filmed in California since I produced “The Hulk” in 2003. As much as I would like to sleep in my own bed at night and employ many of the incredibly talented California-based crew members, I have filmed instead in Georgia, Toronto and Detroit and many other [places] with much higher incentives. I have a project that’s about to shoot in New York that’s called “Very Good Girls” [a feature starring Elizabeth Olsen and Dakota Fanning].
So is California’s film tax credit not effective?
It’s fantastic that we have a program, but it can’t be viewed in a vacuum because producers and financiers look at all of the available options and the pros and the cons and you want to limit the number of cons that you have.
If you had a message to send to California lawmakers, what would it be?
The film and television industry is one of the most productive businesses in California, and employs thousands of residents as crew, cast and in executive positions. We pay taxes, we shop locally, send our children to school here and keep allied businesses [restaurants, dry cleaners, retail stores, car dealerships] in profit. The impact from lost production to other states and countries amounts to billions of dollars. With a competitive tax credit, California can reclaim its position as the entertainment capital of the world. Currently, our tax credit is not on par with those of New York, Georgia, North Carolina and New Mexico, among others.