According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the filming of Public Enemy starring Johnny Depp generated $270,000 in new taxes for the Cheesehead State, but cost the public treasury $4.6 million in tax breaks.
I mention this because Maine is currently competing with several other states to become the site of the filming of Bag of Bones, the stirring story of the state Department of Health and Human Services' successful effort to combat obesity in children.
Oops, sorry, I seem to have made that up.
Bag is actually based on a Stephen King book about a writer living a lonely existence in an isolated house.
(If the producers need somebody who can express soulful yearning for a fraction of the cost of Johnny Depp, I'm your boy. I can also do this Keith Richards imitation.)
Anyway, the only thing stopping the filming from taking place in Maine is those juicier tax breaks in other states. In early March, several sterling representatives of the creative economy met with Governor John Baldacci to ask him to throw a few more elderly people out of nursing homes, and use the savings to super-size the state's subsidy for Hollywood productions. Baldacci said he'd think about it, but there's already a bill in the Legislature, sponsored by state Representative Thomas Watson of Bath, to increase tax breaks to filmmakers to a level that makes Wisconsin look cheesy.
Did I mention that Bag of Bones is a horror story?
In more ways than one.
I'm ready for my close-up. E-mail me at aldiamon@herniahill.net.
