Dozens of post-production/visual effects houses in the Los Angeles area have gone out of business over the past few years - or moved to locations such as Canada that offer tax incentives to producers.
So, during a recent trip to Alabama for the 2016 Sports and Entertainment Symposium (SES), I was surprised to learn that one of the beneficiaries of runaway productions has been Birmingham and it's rapidly growing post-production house, Red Sky Studios.
Should you have any questions about what Alabama production or post-production costs may qualify for Alabama subsidies and/or tax incentives, I met an accountant who audits production expenses to see whether they comply with the state law(s). His name is Mark Underhill, CPA with Barfield, Murphy, Shank and Smith and I imagine he should be able to consult with you to answer your questions and ensure you or your client are complying with the relevant legislation.
Alabama's tax incentives and its growing track record of work (e.g., the visual effects in the movie Woodlawn, for example) are definitely driving expansion at Red Sky Studios, which is growing beyond Birmingham, Alabama;
Much of Red Sky Studios' work is performed on-site but some aspects are outsourced to foreign workers.
On a private tour of Red Sky Studios in Birmingham, Alabama, we found the facilities to be nondescript (no sign out front) but impressive.
A theater and man at work at Red Sky Studios:
We hope Red Sky Studios enjoys so much growth that it opens an LA office. There are plenty of underemployed visual artists and editors here, after all!
1. 2015 Year-In-Review: Live Music Preliminary numbers suggest that the largest component of the music industry may have continued its strong run in 2015, perhaps increasing by as much as 10% if preliminary reports are any indication.
In 2015, the USA's Copyright Royalty Board increased future royalty rates payable to SoundExchange for non-interactive audio streaming by webcasters like Sirius XM and Pandora
Sirius XM and Pandora settled disputes with rightsholders regarding historic uses of pre-72 sound recordings to the collective tune of $300 million
Wu Tang Clan finally sold a sole copy of its album for $2 Million to notorious pharma exec./criminal defendant Martin Shkreli - click here for Bloomberg's report
Speaking of the NMPA, 2015 was the end of an era for the organization, which sold its mechanical licensing and collection arm - The Harry Fox Agency - to SESAC, a performance rights organization which is not directly subject to the consent decrees under which ASCAP and BMI operate.
L - R: John Josephson, Sam Kling & Dennis Lord of SESAC - seated with Michael Simon of The Harry Fox Agency (HFA) on the heels of SESAC's acquisitions of HFA and Rumblefish (Photo by Cedar Boschan)
See SESAC CEO John Josephson's vision for expansion in this article and this video. (The latter video is free to AIMP members, in which AIMP lunch attendees questioned Spotify's PDF statement formats to payees of non-HFA clients, which are inordinately expensive to process. Also, certain audience members expressed dismay over the appearance of a conflict in HFA's audit of Spotify on behalf of HFA clients who pay HFA an 11.5% commission, in light of the fact that Spotify is itself HFA's client). SESAC is but one example of the evolution in the music publishing rights marketplace. As another example, Kobalt, which has expanded into performance royalty collection, made a similar move in 2015, acquiring from Sindee Levin her US mechanical collection society, AMRA, a small HFA competitor.
In terms of judicial activity, some of the key music publishing cases this year include:
Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. requires publishers and other copyright holders to consider fair use prior to issuing a takedown notice
Summary Judgement denied in BMG v. Cox: Cox is not entitled to DMCA Safe Harbor - click here for full opinion
Do you think Hollywood power litigator Howard King regrets his strategy to not present an alternate damage theory for jurors - and the judge - to consider when defending his clients Pharrell and Robin Thicke in the so-called "Blurred Lines" lawsuit brought by the family of Marvin Gaye?
With great deference to Mr. King, I think more defendants should consider including alternate damage theories in their defense strategy because of cases like this, where hiring the right damages expert could drastically change the outcome.
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You might find a chance to ask Mr. King a question about damages if you attend The Copyright Society of the USA's "Copyright Conversation with Howard King" in Los Angeles on January 21. (Register and view who else registered here. Note that the AIMP members save $10 on registration - just log in to the AIMP site and then visit this page to see your discount code.)
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In any case, the below 2015 articles may interest those who wish to learn more about the damages aspects of the Blurred Lines matter: