JUNEAU -- Alaska's film industry tax credit program may find itself on the cutting-room floor in the Alaska Legislature because of perceived affiliation with leftists.
Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, told the House Labor and Commerce Committee Wednesday that Alaska should end its effort to bring a film industry to Alaska even though companies had already made investments in Alaska because of the ongoing state subsidy.
"I'm not going to bleed for these Hollywood folks like others might," he said.
The film subsidy program provides credits for up to 44 percent of Alaska production costs, in some cases. Since it began in 2008, it has paid out a total of $35 million in transferable tax credits, according to the Department of Revenue.
Stoltze said that he didn't like it that the industry had to be subsidized. The program shouldn't be called a "tax credit" program, because the industry pays no taxes, he said. It is simply a subsidy.
"I think it is a mistake, let's cut it off," he said.
Stoltze said he preferred industries that provided real, tangible things, and didn't appear to like the politics of the film industry.
"I know there's a lot of people, especially on the left-wing blogs and in the left-wing media that are really enamored with the fact that Hollywood shows up here and they get to testify on a lot of stuff," he said.
Stoltze said he expected complaints about his bill, House Bill 112, from those people and those with a financial stake in the industry.
"Nobody who is getting something likes it to end," he said.
Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, asked Stoltze if those who had a stake in the industry did so because the Legislature asked them to.
Now is the time to wean the industry from subsidies, he said.
"Lets stop it before we're in even deeper," he said.
Stoltze's antipathy towards the industry raised some eyebrows.
"He's on a mission here," said Bob Crockett, general manager of Piksik, a local film production company, in an interview later. Public testimony was not allowed Wednesday.
The state's new film business is not much different from other businesses that have needed state help to get going, Crockett said.
"If we want to see future growth in the film industry, not unlike any other industry Alaska has had to help along the way, until we can get our feet on the ground," he said.
The 40-year Alaska resident also felt it necessesary to defend his credentials as a real Alaskan, noting that he was a pilot, dog musher and gold dredger.
"I've never felt I had to do that, I've never seen personal attacks on people in the industry like that, he said.
"I support natural resource development," Crockett said. "It provides opportunities for Alaskans just as the film industry does," he said.
Stoltze mocked some of those jobs, saying Alaskans probably didn't want to provide a third of a million dollars for "Life's a Tripp," the reality show starring former Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol and son Tripp.
"Which I've never seen because I don't have cable," he said.
Crockett said the future of the industry was not in reality shows, but in high-dollar commercials, documentaries, and TV serials that provide good jobs.
Contact Pat Forgey at pat(at)alaskadispatch.com