It's 3,600 miles between Puerto Rico and Hollywood and the average flight time is nearly eight hours, but legislators in the U.S. territory and its governor are attempting to offset the daunting travel burden by offering a new package of tax breaks to lure film and television producers. On Monday Gov. Luis Fortuno predicted that the tax incentives will make Puerto Rico one of the most attractive locales for shooting. The tax breaks extend credits to expenditures on non-resident actors, writers, directors and other "above the line" costs. They had previously covered only Puerto Rican residents. Fortuno says that the previous tax incentives, offered since March 2011, had already brought 30 film productions to the island. Meanwhile, Louisiana is forecasting that it will set a record in 2012 with 100 productions coming to the state because of its tax breaks. Republican Congressman Steve Scalise, who authored the Louisiana's tax-incentive program when he was a state legislator in 2002, said that in 2011, the Louisiana film industry generated 10,000 jobs and $1 billion in revenue putting it behind only California and New York in film production.

17/07/2012