The New York State Film Tax Credit: The Diversity Requirement

Soft money and tax incentives are our fave ways to bridge a gap in the finance plan! And when it comes to New York, the Empire State has a very generous tax incentive program (i.e. reason #89701 to love this place). But it doesn’t come free and a production 100% has to work for that incentive. 

The New York State (“NYS”) Film Production Tax Credit program was created to encourage and enable film and television productions to shoot all across the State. In exchange for a 30% tax credit on qualified production expenses (the credit is funded at $700 million per year through 2034), they require certain specific commitments from a production in order to qualify.

The newest requirement to establish eligibility is, (along with a bunch of other stuff - see link above), submitting a diversity plan with a commitment to hire a diverse workforce. A production essentially has to map out who is part of the team, and report on the gender and race/ethnicity of the personnel (cast, crew, vendors etc.) that will be employed and contracted.

…And *big reveal* as a female owned and operated business, E/S Collab. has just joined the list of approved NYS diverse vendors and suppliers!  * applause *
Film productions support all kinds of local businesses during the course of their lifecycle. They rent from local equipment vendors, prop houses, and employ hundreds of local cast and crew in front of and behind the camera. They also support businesses that you might not even think of when you picture a film set, like catering, dry cleaners, thrift stores, hotels, local uber and taxi drivers and more! The NYS Film Production Tax Credit offers an extra incentive to productions that in turn, keep all of this revenue flowing into local businesses.

The introduction of diversity plan requirements adds to the ways in which the NYS Film Production Tax Credit supports local communities by helping to ensure that the film production teams working in New York mirror the diversity of New Yorkers themselves. Diversity, equity and inclusion has been an ongoing conversation across the film industry at large, and progress has been made (see the rapid expansion of Ava Duvernay’s Array Crew), but only a handful of states have created production requirements and incentives to help support the shift toward more equitable representation in the industry. New York joins California, Illinois and New Jersey with the move to require diversity hiring data.

If you are applying for the NYS Film Production Tax Credit, know that you’ll not only be supporting the folks who live and work year-round in your filming location, but the broad efforts to make the film industry a more equitable one to work in. NYS has made it super easy to meet the newest application requirement and build a diverse roster of vendors for your production by introducing the NYS Film & Television Diverse Suppliers Directory - all formally approved diverse suppliers and vendors are listed here (and NYS has already gone through the process of vetting and confirming they meet the diversity requirements).

Have a peruse and if you’re shooting in NYS, you know who to call…

Disclaimer: This post should not be construed as legal, commercial or financial advice and should be used for informational purposes only.