Free Money!

Corporate welfare marches on:

... From 2012 to 2013, movie production spending [in the United Kingdom] rose 7.5% to $1.81 billion, according to numbers from the British Film Institute, with 81% of the total U.K. production spending coming from films financed from outside the U.K. — mostly from the U.S. studios. These pics contributed $1.46 billion, an increase of 28% on 2012. The first half of 2014 saw U.K. spending on all films hit $1.3 billion, the highest since the first half of 2011, according to the BFI.

The boom can be traced to Britain’s attractive tax credit, which got sexier in 2013: It improved the rate of relief for larger budget pics, offering a 25% rebate of the first £20 million ($34.2 million) of qualifying U.K. expenditure, with the remainder of a budget still receiving a 20% rebate. ...

The lure of free money is potent. It's not a surprise that our fine entertainment conglomerates are flying to the sceptered isle. (Disney isn't doing Star Wars VII in Burbank, now are they? Even though Abrams would be more than okay with that.)

I'm not a fan of showering cash on big multi-nationals, but recognize that we live in a corporatist state. I'm supporting AB 1839 (California's version of free money) out of self defense, not because I like it.