As it stands now, the PA Film Tax Credit Program — which has lured scores of film and television productions to the state and Philly specifically over the years and fostered a local industry unto itself — is frozen, pending a budget from new governor Tom Corbett. And while no one seems to know whether that freeze is temporary or permanent — the tax credit program is often a talking point for rabble-rousing Pennsyltucky pols who like to bait their crowds with anti-Hollywood rhetoric — locals are already suffering.

“Nobody’s working,” said Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, when we spoke with her yesterday. “Not even preproduction, not scouting, nothing. There are a lot of films waiting in the wings,” she said, ” and we’re poised to have the biggest year in our history if the freeze is lifted.” And among those films waiting in the wigs, arguably the biggest prospect — and potential boon to Philly’s film industry and tax base — is World War Z, the highly anticipated big-budget sci-fi flick starring Brad Pitt that was slated to begin production here in the spring. As to whether the rumors are true that the movie’s production has already been pulled out of Philly, Pinkenson demurs: “All work on the next big feature to come to Philadelphia has been stopped.” Big pictures slated to shoot in Pittsburgh are in trouble, too.

Still, Pinkenson retains hope that the tax credit program, which has been in trouble before, will be revived. “This new governor is pro busienss and I can only imagine that once he realizes the effect that this has on the local industry,” she said, “he’ll lift the freeze and in fact support the tax credit.”

This entry was posted on Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 1:05 pm.