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Poster for 'The Chill Factor' (1993)
A poster for 'The Chill Factor' (1993)
While Wisconsin had its share of movies shot in and around the area going all the way back to the silent era it was erratic and unpredictable. We never had a real centralized “film industry” in the proper sense. We did have one attempt in the late 1980s with Windsor Lake Studios, based in Eagle River.
Christopher Webster (producer of the first two Hellraiser films) wanted to establish a Wisconsin based film studio and succeeded… for a while. Starting out with low budget direct-to-video horror films like Trapped Alive, The Chill Factor and The Inheritor, he eventually inked a deal with horror magazine Fangoria (who had just branched out into production of films) to produce Mindwarp, Children of the Night and Severed Ties. These were not throwaway movies. Bruce Campbell, Peter DeLuise, Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Garret Morris, Elke Sommer and others came to the state to make these films.
After a few more movies such as the Ed Begley Jr., Stockard Channing, Dabney Coleman starring Meet the Applegate’s, Windsor Lake folded up shop and Wisconsin returned to its here-and-there method of film production. That was until, in the mid 2000s a Tax Credit incentive program was instituted, and at that point the floodgates were meant to open wide up for Wisconsin to become a filmmaking hub.
State of Flux
Some history to put things in perspective first. The film industry was in a state of flux in the early to mid-2000s. Film, as a medium, was changing. Movies were now shot digitally, cameras were cheaper, VHS was on the way out as the dominant home media format, and DVDs, along with directed-to-DVD sales, were the future. Movies were easier and cheaper to make. This all led to Wisconsin seeing a future that other states had already dabbled in and that was film credit tax incentives.
There are myriad small details and individuals responsible for the creation of the Wisconsin Film Tax Credit, but it was created by then-Governor Jim Doyle in 2006 and was overseen by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. Doyle was a Democrat (this is important). The general idea was to offer tax breaks for film productions to come to Wisconsin, generate local jobs and establish a local film industry. Other states had implemented similar programs, leading to a surge in filmmaking and a significant influx of capital, which boosted their economies. Doyle saw this as a win/win, filmmakers would get help in financing their film and Wisconsin would get jobs and credibility. Sadly, this is not how it worked out.
In theory, it was perfect. In practice, it was a disaster. While created in 2006, the new incentive program was not instituted until 2008. The theory was that Wisconsin had many talented filmmakers, crew members and actors that just needed some large productions to provide opportunities for local professionals to demonstrate their skills. UW-Milwaukee has a film program and yet no film industry for those graduates to move into.
Help from Hollywood?
The promise was that Hollywood productions would come to the state to film, and this would create something of an industry that could sustain itself and that local crews would be hired, creating local jobs. This was not the case. Most of the Hollywood productions that took advantage of the tax credit brought their own crews from California, only employed local talent minimally, and took advantage of the tax credit to exploit the state rather than invigorate it. This happened again and again.
An example of this is the 2009 film Public Enemies by Michael Mann, starring Johnny Depp. The film was given $5 million in tax credits, and while the production spent $18 million in the state, only a limited number of Wisconsin talents were hired to work on the film. The bulk of the crew was from out of state, and no lasting employment was created. This is one example. Transformers: Dark of the Moon did similarly, where it took as much of the tax credit as it could and then used mostly Hollywood crews for filming and only hiring the bare minimum of locals.
This misuse of the tax incentive’s intent angered many in the state until, finally in 2011, Republican Gov. Scott Walker dissolved the tax credit program, citing the lack of jobs created and the return on investment being nonexistent. There was also a partisan conflict between Democrats and Republicans at this time that plays into things.
Eliminating Programs
When Walker came into office, he sought to eliminate as many Democrat-created programs in the state as possible, and he was opposed to the film credit in the first place, so he moved quickly in removing it as soon as he could. His official argument was that filmmaking is temporary, and that the money should be spent on manufacturing or agriculture instead. Once the tax credit was gone, major film production ground to almost a complete halt in the state. Productions that were scheduled to shoot here pulled out overnight and work for local filmmakers evaporated. During the tax credit era, industry professionals secured jobs and signed contracts for films scheduled to be shot in and around the Milwaukee and Green Bay areas. However, these productions were canceled once the tax credit was eliminated. Many of these films never got made at all, while a few moved to other states such as Illinois and Georgia that did have tax credit programs.
But there is (perhaps) a light at the end of the tunnel as a new film tax credit that started this year. It is different and so much of the same as before. Without going into details there are so many hoops that need to be jumped through and so many roadblocks in place and the new tax credit is just drowning in paperwork and red tape. This is an impediment to low budget and independent filmmakers. You have to submit your film to the tax office, with a non-refundable fee, and if they decide your film does not qualify for the tax credit… well, you are out your fee. This is rife for abuse and an independent filmmaker will likely not have the funds to keep submitting and submitting until they get somewhere. Filmmaker Brandon Johnson says, “You had to pay the state $500 just to see if they’d recognize your project as worthy.”
So while this is a step in the right direction it is a situation we have to watch for a while to see how this plays out.
