Views on News, wispundits • November 24th, 2008

Did ‘Public Enemies’ rob Wisconsin?

by Chris Lato

Hollywood comes to Wisconsin and takes the Badger State for a ride.

At least that’s the sound of it from this Associated Press story, which contends that in hard dollars, the recent film ‘Public Enemies’ spent just slightly more than it saved in tax breaks when filming in Wisconsin this year.

Others are taking issue with that assessment, arguing the residual impact on tourism and national attention on Wisconsin was worth the effort.

At the center of this issue is Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, who touted the film tax credits earlier this year and is defending them now. It will be interesting to see whether she has the juice to successfully keep the program afloat in its present form, particularly considering the current budget hole. And based on the article, Gov. Doyle was not exactly tossing her a lifeline.

Handing out massive, almost dollar-for-dollar tax breaks to rich Hollywood film productions may not sit well with some legislators who are looking at tax hikes on regular Joes. However, the case could be made that Wisconsin reaps the benefits in terms of an increased public profile.

As a big movie fan, I’m thrilled to see Hollywood discovering Wisconsin, and no doubt a lot of politicians understand the power of getting a photo standing next to a Johnny Depp or Christian Bale. But dollars-and-cents may end up trumping star power.

At the very least, with a cast and crew like the one that’s making ‘Public Enemies,’ hopefully it will break the Wisconsin curse that seems to plague films shot here - I’m still trying to scrub ‘I Love Trouble’ and ‘Chain Reaction’ from my memory.

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