Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature have agreed to tell the public how much taxpayer money the state gives to each movie and television show.
The agreement is written into the new state budget.
For years, the state hid the tax credits from the public and the issue is the subject of a recent investigation in The Post-Standard.
The state is giving away $420 million a year to film and television studios without saying how much each project benefits. The money goes to blockbuster movies and to NBC for New York City-centric shows such as Saturday Night Live and Law & Order. NBC and the film industry combined have donated at least $1.1 million to New York political campaigns since the program started in 2004, the newspaper’s analysis shows.
The governor’s film office said the information was an industry trade secret that could damage the companies’ ability to market the movie to investors and advertisers. The newspaper argued the information is not a secret in the eyes of the state’s public records laws…..
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