Corporations, Associations and the State: The International Subsidy System for Film

Rather than increasing competition in the market and decreasing government spending, neoliberalism has driven states to compete by appealing to transnational corporations. Direct subsidization to attract investment has become one of the most egregious normalization of this process, and Hollywood and the film industry have become some of the most active participants to this system. Indeed to have a functioning film industry, government subsidies are essential, commonly paying out up to a third of the production costs. Per employee these are some of the highest subsidy rates of any industry, and with most of the world participating, they offer little long-term benefit to anyone besides the most global Hollywood studios. Rather, this creates greater dependency on the Major film studios by local government, workers, and small production companies to attract large production spending, but end up supporting an ever expanding system of subsidization

Neoliberalism and Monopoly in the Motion Picture Industry

Monopolies and industry concentration have returned in our time, as did the ramifications in the globalized political economy. One of the most impactful in our daily lives are the Mass Media Conglomerates who not only own the majority of film, television, and news we access, but increasingly control the means of accessing it, from cable to digital. While many are familiar with these corporations via their services and products, less known by the public are their political operations and close cooperation with Washington. This is due to the lack of holistic analysis of the industry and cooperation in the media oligopoly. Especially lacking is the focus on trade associations in the political process. As such, this dissertation analyzes the role of the prominent trade association for the film industry—the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The MPAA was formed in the early days of Hollywood’s film dominance, and today is one of the most prominent and notorious trade associations in promoting neoliberal development. These changes include transnationalized production and distribution, Intellectual Property Rights extensions, and invasive trade agreements to name a few. The influence and power to do so goes beyond lobbying, by instrumentalizing their industry, incorporating state bureaucracies, and developing an international structure that enhances corporate political power. The results have been an ever-growing consolidation that branches into related sectors and industries of communication and technology. With this such trade associations like the MPAA become more representative and hold more political leverage, which is increasingly used on the global arena and impacting the foreign and domestic policy of many states far beyond Hollywood

A Qualitative Assessment of the International Exposition Center to the Greater Cleveland Area

This report describes the outcomes of discussions with IX Center customers and stakeholders as to how the IX Center qualitatively impacts the greater Cleveland area. The results suggest that while the IX Center is perceived to be an asset by customers and stakeholders, it’s likely that the IX Center will need to develop strategies to remain competitive with similar convention centers across the country

Can the Center Hold? Grappling with the decline of a small-city downtown in Meridian, Mississippi

Meridian, Mississippi, is a poster child for the Post-War Era decline of America\u27s downtowns. The center city has been in steady decline since the rise of automobile culture and the opening of Meridian’s first suburban mall in the 1970s. This study analyzes how a historic preservation ethic may better inform the economic development of a downtown with an emphasis on establishing best practices for other small American cities. In focusing on a small, southern city, this paper fortifies a weak area in the study of preservation best practices related to downtown revitalization, which has focused on larger cities outside the Mid-South region. It examines the preservation policies within Meridian\u27s 2004 Downtown Redevelopment Plan, 2009 Comprehensive Plan, and other official city planning documents. It gauges the importance placed on preservation in city planning, as well as to what degree preservation policies are actually carried out. Meridian\u27s revitalization efforts focus on large development projects devoted to entertainment and tourism: the restoration of the Grand Opera House, the upcoming redevelopment of an abandoned Art Deco office building into a hotel, and the construction of the MAEE, slated to open in 2017. This study examines the current success of these and other projects and gauges how successfully they encourage sustainable development of the downtown core. Specifically, the study will suggest how historic preservation, incremental development, and diverse services and functions can improve downtown revitalization efforts in Meridian and comparable cities

The State of the Region: Hampton Roads 2010

This is Old Dominion University\u27s 11th annual State of the Region Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it\u27s president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region\u27s many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about where we are and a sound understanding of the policy options open to us.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/economics_books/1008/thumbnail.jp

Hollywood\u27s Disappearing Act: International Trade Remedies to Bring Hollywood Home

This article addresses whether the film incentives offered by other countries are consistent with those countries’ obligations under international law and can be countered with countervailing duties under U.S. domestic law. In particular, this article discusses in some detail whether the foreign film incentives are consistent with these countries’ obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the SCM Agreement)...The question addressed in this article is whether, under U.S. and WTO law, a foreign government can artificially lower the costs of production in an industry to such an extent that a number of U.S. companies choose to establish local production companies in that country and forego production in the U.S., thereby decimating the industry in the U.S. Specifically, as a case study, this article focuses on the Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) film incentives that Canada offers to domestic and foreign film companies alike to produce films that need not possess any Canadian content...The article concludes that the above-described foreign film incentives, and the PSTC film incentives in Canada in particular, most likely are inconsistent with those WTO Members’ obligations under WTO law, as they adversely affect the U.S. feature film production industry. The U.S. Government could therefore pursue a dispute settlement case on this issue in the WTO, requesting that Canada (and other countries with similar film incentive programs) be ordered to abolish those incentives. In the U.S., the U.S. Government could also initiate an action to impose countervailing duties on the subsidized films when they are imported into the U.S. After providing an analysis supporting this conclusion, this article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the various remedies that could be pursued, considers the obstacles to a legal challenge to the film incentive programs, and provides recommendations for how interested parties in the U.S. might proceed