Lights, camera, tax credits!

Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday signed legislation intended to boost the state’s film and television industry by granting larger tax credits for editing and other postproduction work — even if the programs are not filmed in New York.

“With this legislation, New York is inviting producers, directors and editors from across the nation to bring their postproduction work right here to the Empire State,” Cuomo said in a statement.

The new law, which was supported by Mayor Bloomberg and won easy approval in the Legislature this year, increases the postproduction tax credit to 30% from 10% in the New York City region.

The maximum credit jumps to 35% outside the metropolitan area as lawmakers and the Cuomo administration seek to spur more development in economically struggling areas upstate.

“There is potential for this industry to make new investments in communities across the state and, in doing so, help make New York the television and film capital of the world,” Cuomo said.

Conservative and liberal critics, however, question whether the state is getting its money’s worth out of a program that costs taxpayers $420 million a year.

“It is basically a subsidy,” said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and head of the Empire Center for Public Policy…..

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