MPAA: Motion Picture Association Of America

The MPAA is an abbreviation for the Motion Picture Association Of America; aside from its name what do we know about this company. Well the MPAA is the support and voice of motion picture and television industries in the United States. MPAA’s members consist of the six major US studios for motion picture. Those six motion picture studios are as follows: Walt Disney, Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros. The MPAA prides themselves in the protection of property rights, free and fair trade, groundbreaking consumer choices and freedom of speech to enrich and empower movies.

Now that we better know the MPAA and what they stand for, lets discuss their major programs and how that could affect our industry. The program that seems to be the most bountiful to the economy is the state-by-state film & television economic contributions. The production and distribution of motion pictures and television programs is a cultural and economic resource that is most valuable to our nation. The economic contributions of this program are production tax incentives that are given by most states to promote film and television production. For example, Maryland has a refundable tax credit of 25% for films and 27% for TV series on eligible production related expenses.

Production tax incentives not only help film production companies produce films. Tax incentives offer incentives to bring film productions from California to states such as Maryland that don’t receive as many film productions as surrounding states. As an example the motion picture and television industries are responsible for more than 6,893 jobs in the state of Maryland. In addition, $592 million in salaries are earned in Maryland, including production and distribution-related jobs. HBO shot the film Game Change in Maryland, which depicts the 2008 presidential campaign. The state of Maryland issued $3.5 million in tax incentives to bring the film to Maryland. The film is expected to bring employment to a 160 production crews and include 1,800 local actors and extras. So the next time you think about the production of a film or television program do some research. Think about what it took to get that program realized and how that program has affected our economy, be it good or bad.