6A - Monday, November 1, 2010
Uncertain future
for film incentives
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.corm
Bugs survive in'Fallout'
Bernero supports
state's film tax credits,
Snyder in opposition
By TIMOTHY RABB
DailyArts Writer
The fate of Michigan's substan-
tial film production incentives
could ride on the outcome of tomor-
row's midterm elections, and with
Republican gubernatorial candi-
date Rick Snyder leading Democrat
Virg Bernero by double digits in the
polls, things don't look good for the
program's supporters.
Since being enacted by the Mich-
igan legislature in April 2008, the
program has offered a 40-percent
tax rebate on in-state expenses to
eligible production entities and an
extra two percent for those filming
in commercialized areas like Ann
Arbor. The rate is lower - 30 per-
cent - for productions using crews
and talent from outside the state.
More than 100 films have been
produced in Michigan since the
incentives were passed, according
to the Michigan Film Office. And
after spending only $2 million on
film production in 2007, film pro-
ducers have now spent almost $350
million, and that number is expect-
ed to reach a possible $650 million
by the end of this year.
Speaking recently to Detroit
radio station WJR-AM 760, Snyder
criticized the incentives.
"I think it's something that
needs to be adjusted," he said. "It
is creating jobs, but at what cost to
other alternatives?"
On the same program, Bernero
voiced his continued support of the
incentives.
Several state legislators share
Snyder's concerns as to whether or
not Michigan is receiving a signifi-
cant return on its investments.
"The Michigan film credits are
an open-ended promise that could
cost us $50 million next year or
$250 million next year. There's
no limit," said state Sen. Mickey
Switalski (D-Roseville) in an inter-
view with the Daily.
"The first thing we need to do
is decide how much we can invest
in film credits, and put a cap on it.
The second thing we need to do is
establish a permanent industry, by
gearing the credits toward facilities
that produce television shows, com-
mercials and video games," he said,
instead of awarding taxpayer-sup-
ported benefits to people who will
likely return to their home states.
Switalski's sentiment is shared
by his senate colleague Nancy Cas-
sis (R-Novi), whose September
op-ed in the Detroit Free Press
criticized what she called financial
inefficiency in the program, citing a
Senate Fiscal Agency report to sup-
port her stance.
"According to the data, the film
credits are less effective than pre-
viously thought, bringing the state
only 11 cents back for each dollar
given away in credits," Cassis said.
"In 2008, according to the report,
47.4 percent of the expenditures
that qualified for the Media Produc-
tion Credit did not affect the Michi-
gan economy - primarily because
they were made to individuals and
firms outside of Michigan."
Donald Grimes, senior research
associate at the Institute for
Research on Labor, Employment
and the Economy at the Univer-
sity, agrees that the incentives don't
present a long-term benefit for the
state.
"It costs more money than it's
worth in terms of the state bud-
get - they give off more incentives
than what they get back in tax rev-
enue," Grimes told the Daily.
"When they give the film sub-
sidy, what they're basically hoping
is that on one level that they can
somehow create an industry that
doesn't depend on that subsidy, or
secondly that we get some good
publicity for the state. And so those
are the two arguments for it," he
added. "But it is a direct subsidy, it
doesn't pay for itself, and any argu-
ment that would say it pays for itself
is sortof crazy."
The Senate Fiscal Agency report
also describes how the additional
See FILM TAX, Page 8B
By TEDDY PAPES through situations undetected.
DailyArts Writer Subsequent playthroughs are
enhanced through the different
"Fallout: New Vegas" opens approaches available. A tactical
with a bang, literally, as the pro- mode called VATS is central to
tagonist gets shot by a smug bas- the game's action and original
tard, content to to "Fallout 3" and "New Vegas."
deliver a semi- It lets you freeze the game and
badass one-liner Fallout: make a limited number of calcu-
before he puts lated moves, which can turn the
you down. And New VegaS tide of a firefight.
though this The story has a very promising
seems to promise Xbox 360, lead, but what begins as an excit-
an exciting chap- P'3, PC ing and complex set of events turn
ter in the main Bethesda out to be a simple plug for your
character's life, he may never character to join the overplayed
know - the game freezes during "good" and "bad" factions. This
the next loading screen. After a dichotomy - present in almost all
reboot, the game might just make modern RPGs - just isn't interest-
it past the same screen, and the ing anymore. Their idiosyncrasies
hero is finally unleashed in the seem to promise original develop-
Nevada wasteland. ments, but they both fall into their
Once past the glitches, play- banal roles: save this village for
ers will find that gameplay in the good guys or destroy it for the
"New Vegas" remains largely bad guys.
unchanged from "Fallout 3." The real strength of this game
While presented like a shooter, is the environment of post-war
the game is an RPG at heart. With Nevada, which has an almost
a variety of skill allocations to unlimited amount of content to
choose as your character lev- offer. Long overland journeys are
els up, the game can be full of encounters with strug-
played with a wide array gling settlers looking for help
of styles and strategies. and gunfights between rival
With a high Science factions. There is no short-
skill, you might ' age of quests or buildings to
hack into a comput- explore, with only a few scraps
er to turn automat- of evidence describing the
ed turrets ndemise of the departed
against the or mutated inhabit-
guards of ants. A survivor
a fortress, of the nuclear
while a 0 holocaust,
high Sneak>, New Vegas is
skill might booming with
let you slip 8 lights, people
and casinos in full swing with a
variety of gambling minigames
to play; it's a bright speck in the
middle of the chaos. Simply exist-
ing in this nuanced world is satis-
fying enough, and that alone is a
remarkable achievement.
What happens in
post-apocalyptic
Vegas ...
Unfortunately, the nuclear
wasteland of Nevada shares a
similarity with its software: mas-
sive bugs. The game often drops
to extremely low frame rates and
eventually freezes. This usually
requires a full reboot, causing a
loss of large chunks of playtime
that must be gruelingly repeat-
ed. With the variety of options
available for quest completion,
the game sometimes fails to rec-
ognize when quests have been
completed. It's very frustrating to
get to the bottom of a crime only
to have nobody recognize the
results.
Apparently these bugs are a
widespread problem that Bethes-
da is working to fix, but their
most recent patch fixes nothing.
The game has a lot to offer, and
the good definitely outweighs the
bad. So for a totally immersive and
lengthy RPG experience, check
out this game. Just wait a few
weeks for Bethesda to extermi-
nate the bugs.
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RELEASE DATE- Monday, November 1,2010
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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otos BY Gail Grabowski 11/01/10
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