Produced By Conference: A ‘gold rush’ out of L.A. for tax credits

California, beware: Film producers are increasingly sizing up rivals in emerging regional production centers outside of Hollywood, from Pittsburgh to Atlanta.

That was the blunt, but all too familiar, message delivered at a panel Sunday at the fifth annual Produced By Conference at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City.

“We’re all whores chasing the money,� said Chris Moore, whose films have included the Academy Award winner “Good Will Hunting� and the “American Pie� movies.� “It’s just like the gold rush.�

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Moore noted that he filmed 2012’s “American Reunion� in Atlanta to take advantage of Georgia’s 30% credit, which unlike many other state programs can be applied to salaries of actors. Such salaries can account for as much as 80% of a film’s budget.

The Matt Damon movie “Promised Land,� also produced by Moore, was filmed in Pennsylvania, which provides up to a 30% credit and is currently weighing a bill that would remove an annual $60-million cap on funding.

California provides up to a 25% film tax credit but is more restrictive than many film incentive programs. For example, the program excludes movies with budgets greater than $75 million and uses a lottery to allocate $100 million in annual funds.

“I represent a generation of producers who’ve never been able to shoot in L.A.,� said Moore, one of the speakers at a panel titled “Beyond Hollywood: The Promise of Regional Production Centers.� “We spend all of our time trying to figure out where we can find some attractive soft money.�

Another panelist, John Dellaverson, vice chairman of FilmFinances, a Los Angeles-based film financing company, provided some statistics to highlight the competitive challenge facing California’s film industry.

He noted that in the last six years, his company has provided completion bonds -- guarantees that a movie will be completed on time and within budget -- to 568 movies. Of those, only 87 were in California, he said.

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