Despite Colorado taxpayers forking over $8.8 million to film producers over the past three years as part of a “film credit” that refunds 20% of a film’s production costs incurred in Colorado, the Denver Business Journal reported that the Governor is looking for $5 million more for the controversial program.
Luckily, House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso and fellow Republican lawmakers at the Capitol are pushing back, with a strong preference that the money would be used for K-12 education in the state. Especially since the Joint Budget Committee was recently forced to make a massive reduction to the planned allocation for K-12 education.
DelGrosso is right – this taxpayer money should stay in the state, to benefit our school children and hardworking families. We don’t need to line the pockets of highly profitable film industry giants such as Universal Pictures to film in one of the most picturesque locations in the world.
It is also interesting to note that these film credits are not just for feature movies, but can also be used to offset the cost of producing commercials. In Ed Sealover’s article, Colorado Film Commissioner Donald Zuckerman lamented that he recently had to turn down the producers of a car commercial who wanted to tap into the fund.
But, don’t worry. In case you’re more interested in the great cultural films that benefited from Colorado taxpayer dollars, blockbuster Dinonauts is still showing on YouTube and below.