| |
| |
| |
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to incentives for the film, television, video, and digital |
|
|
interactive media production industries. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Sections 485.021(2) and (5), Government Code, |
|
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(2) "Moving image project" means a visual and sound |
|
|
production, including a film, television program, national or |
|
|
multistate commercial, educational or instructional video, or |
|
|
digital interactive media production. The term does not include a |
|
|
production that is obscene, as defined by Section 43.21, Penal |
|
|
Code. |
|
|
(5) "Underutilized and economically distressed |
|
|
["Underused] area" includes any area of this state that: |
|
|
(A) the office determines receives less than 15 |
|
|
percent of the total film and television production in this state |
|
|
during a fiscal year; or |
|
|
(B) has a median household income that does not |
|
|
exceed 75 percent of the median state household income [other than
|
|
|
the metropolitan areas of Austin or Dallas]. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 485.023, Government Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 485.023. QUALIFICATION. To qualify for a grant under |
|
|
this subchapter: |
|
|
(1) a production company must have spent a minimum of: |
|
|
(A) $250,000 [$1 million] in in-state spending |
|
|
for a film or television program; or |
|
|
(B) $100,000 in in-state spending for a |
|
|
commercial or series of commercials, an educational or |
|
|
instructional video or series of educational or instructional |
|
|
videos, or a digital interactive media production; |
|
|
(2) at least 70 percent of the production crew, |
|
|
actors, and extras for a moving image project must be Texas |
|
|
residents unless the office determines and certifies in writing |
|
|
that a sufficient number of qualified crew, actors, and extras are |
|
|
not available to the company at the time principal photography |
|
|
begins; |
|
|
(3) at least 60 [80] percent of the moving image |
|
|
project must be filmed in Texas; and |
|
|
(4) a production company must submit to the office an |
|
|
expended budget, in a format prescribed by the office, that |
|
|
reflects all in-state spending and includes all receipts, invoices, |
|
|
pay orders, and other documentation considered necessary by the |
|
|
office to accurately determine the amount of a production company's |
|
|
in-state spending that has occurred. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Sections 485.024 and 485.025, Government Code, |
|
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 485.024. GRANT. (a) Except as provided by Section |
|
|
485.025, a grant under this subchapter may not exceed the amount |
|
|
established by office rule. The office shall adopt rules |
|
|
prescribing the method the office will use to calculate the amount |
|
|
of a grant under this subsection. The office shall publish a |
|
|
written summary of the method for determining grants before |
|
|
awarding a grant under this section. The method must consider at a |
|
|
minimum: |
|
|
(1) the current and likely future effect a moving |
|
|
image project will have on employment, tourism, and economic |
|
|
activity in this state; and |
|
|
(2) the amount of a production company's in-state |
|
|
spending for a moving image project [lesser of five percent of the
|
|
|
total amount of a production company's in-state spending for a
|
|
|
moving image project or:
|
|
|
[(1) $2 million for a film;
|
|
|
[(2) $2.5 million for a television program;
|
|
|
[(3)
$200,000 for a commercial or series of
|
|
|
commercials; or
|
|
|
[(4)
$250,000 for a digital interactive media
|
|
|
production]. |
|
|
(b) In calculating a grant amount under Section 485.025 or |
|
|
the amount of in-state spending for purposes of rules adopted under |
|
|
Subsection (a), the office may not include wages of persons, |
|
|
including an actor or director, employed in the production of a |
|
|
moving image project that exceed $1 million [are:
|
|
|
[(1)
a major part of the production costs of the
|
|
|
project, as determined by the office; and
|
|
|
[(2) negotiated or spent before production begins]. |
|
|
(c) The office may only make a grant from appropriated |
|
|
funds. |
|
|
Sec. 485.025. ADDITIONAL GRANT FOR UNDERUTILIZED AND |
|
|
ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED [UNDERUSED] AREAS. In addition to the |
|
|
grant calculated under Section 485.024, a production company that |
|
|
spends at least 25 percent of a moving image project's filming days |
|
|
in an underutilized and economically distressed [underused] area is |
|
|
eligible for an additional grant in an amount equal to 2.5 [1.25] |
|
|
percent of the total amount of the production company's in-state |
|
|
spending for the moving image project. |
|
|
SECTION 4. (a) The Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia |
|
|
Office in the office of the governor shall adopt the rules required |
|
|
by Section 485.024, Government Code, as amended by this Act, not |
|
|
later than November 1, 2009. |
|
|
(b) The Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia Office in |
|
|
the office of the governor may not award a grant under Section |
|
|
485.024, Government Code, as amended by this Act, before the rules |
|
|
described by Subsection (a) of this section are adopted. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
| |
| |
| |
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
| |
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
| |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 873 was passed by the House on March |
|
|
26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 6, 1 present, not |
|
|
voting. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 873 was passed by the Senate on April |
|
|
17, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 1. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
APPROVED: _____________________ |
|
|
Date |
|
|
|
|
|
_____________________ |
|
|
Governor |