[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 138 (Saturday, October 28, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INDEPENDENT FILMS AND TELEVISION PROGRAMMING

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JERRY WELLER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 27, 2000

  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, On behalf of Representatives Mark Foley, 
Robert Matsui, and Xavier Becerra, I would like to express our 
continued interest in an issue designed to increase the production of 
independent films and television programming in the United States.
  As the Members know, the 1990's have seen an accelerating departure 
of U.S. financed films and television programs to Canada, Mexico and 
other foreign countries. The trend has become so pronounced that a new 
phrase has been coined to describe the impact--``runaway productions.'' 
Next year, we intend address this issue, look for reasonable and 
responsible legislative remedies and work with our trading partners to 
reverse the trend of filmings outside the U.S. solely for economic 
reasons. These efforts are supported by a diverse group of 
entertainment trade associations and guilds and would be targeted at 
productions costing between $500,000 and $10 million.
  The impact of runaway productions has been profound. Runaway 
production means fewer employment opportunities for individuals 
directly employed in the U.S. film and television industry. Runaway 
productions also significantly reduce the business opportunities for 
the film and television service industries like hotels, restaurants and 
catering businesses, post production services providing editing and 
music scoring, equipment rental and transport companies, electrical 
contractors and many others who service or supply the entertainment 
industry.
  Moreover, these job losses are not limited to Hollywood or Southern 
California. Many states have seen once thriving film and television 
industries depart, leaving behind unemployed technicians and 
craftspersons, business losses and reduced local tax receipts. States 
like Illinois, Texas and Florida have been particularly hard hit, but 
even the state of Minnesota, for example, has just experienced its 
worst year in the past eleven for film and television production. In 
addition, the individuals whose jobs are lost usually are highly 
skilled workers who cannot replace their income with work in another 
sector.
  Where are the jobs going? A surprising number are going to Canada. 
According to Statistics Canada, for example, independent film and 
television and video production was up 16 percent in 1997-98, the most 
recent year for which Canadian statistics are available. In British 
Columbia, alone, film and television production has increased five-fold 
since the late 1980s to over $700 million annually. Moreover, full-time 
Canadian employment in the film and television industry increased by 63 
percent from the 1992-93 to 1997-98. The rising trend in Canadian film 
and television production exacerbates the runaway production problem 
because Canadian film and television crews and actors obtain the 
training necessary to accommodate even more productions.
  More U.S. film and television production in Canada and elsewhere in 
the world means less production in the U.S. The U.S. production share 
of Movies of the Week broadcast on U.S. television declined from 62 to 
41 percent between 1994-95 and 1999-2000 representing a loss of $727 
million in U.S. production expenditures. Estimates of overall job loss 
in the U.S. film and television industry run as high as 23,500 in 1998 
alone. To select just one of many examples that demonstrate the impact 
of this disturbing trend on employment, aggregate wages for musicians 
performing on film scores in 1999 declined by more than 30 percent from 
the previous year.
  Runaway production is due, in large part, to the concerted efforts of 
governments to attract U.S. film production. Canada has been 
particularly successful in this regard. For example, the combination of 
federal and provincial tax credits in the provinces of British Columbia 
and Ontario exceed 30 percent of wages paid in connection with a 
production. The sheer size of these credits has increasingly attracted 
productions to Canada that might otherwise have stayed in the U.S.
  We look forward to working with our colleagues next year in an effort 
to keep independent U.S. film and television production here at home in 
the United States.

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