Lights! Camera! Action! Stay put! : Some states offer incentives to keep film, TV productions around after they’ve gotten exterior shots.

When Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen made New York Minute last year, that’s about how much time they spent in the city.

The famous twins made most of their movie on a soundstage in Toronto. Teen star Lindsay Lohan is in New Orleans making a movie that takes place in New York. The TV shows Seinfeld, Friends, NYPD Blue and CSI: NY were all made in California. Even a TV movie about former mayor Rudy Giuliani was shot in Montreal.

To persuade moviemakers to stick around after they film their star in front of the Empire State Building, New York has begun offering tax incentives to TV and film productions.

Too many filmmakers have been getting their "hero shot" outside a New York landmark and then finishing the picture in a less-expensive location, according to the state and city film offices. And that has been costing the city some prestige, as well as the business that moviemaking can bring in.

To reverse the trend, the state in August instituted a 10% tax credit for film and TV production. And last month, New York City added a further 5% credit. The city also offers free advertising worth 1% of a film’s budget on city-owned billboards and bus shelters. Moviemakers can use the "concierge service" of the city film office to help with requests such as stopping traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. And, of course, the program comes with its own logo: "Made in NY."

The program is starting to pay off. Five TV pilots, including cop show NY-70, are in production in the city "as a direct result of the tax credit," says Katherine Oliver, head of the city’s film office.

And when The Producers begins filming Monday at a studio in Brooklyn, real-life producer Mel Brooks will get a 15% tax credit from the city and state on the costs of the $45 million film except salaries of the actors, director and writers.

Losing business

About $5 billion a year is spent here on movie and TV production, the state film office estimates. New York and California, where about $34 billion is spent annually, account for more than 70% of U.S. film and TV production. But in the past five years, both states have lost business to Canada, New Zealand and states such as Louisiana that offer financial incentives aimed at moviemakers.

By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-02-24-films_x.htm