By Ed Sealover | The Sum & Substance
Colorado’s film-incentive program has generated division among legislators since its inception. The state’s effort to attract the Sundance Film Festival to Boulder, however, is getting near-unanimous support.
The House Business Affairs and Labor Committee on Wednesday approved the creation of a new incentive tax credit to draw what is arguably America’s most prestigious film festival away from its long-time home in Park City, Utah. Having outgrown the 8,400-person town, the 11-day festival that attracts some 70,000 annual attendees has narrowed its search for a new home to three locations: Salt Lake City (in conjunction with Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder.
Under House Bill 1005, sponsored by House Majority Leader Monica Duran of Wheat Ridge and fellow Democratic Rep. Brianna Titone of Arvada, Colorado would offer an aggregate total of $34 million in new refundable tax credits over a 10-year period. Those credits, which can only be claimed by a global film-festival entity that sells at least 100,000 in-person tickets annually, would be paid retrospectively after the festival generates its sales each year, supporters emphasized.