Why is Virginia Paying Spielberg to Film a Movie About Virginia in Virginia?

In 1797, when American diplomats were negotiating with France to try to avoid an impending war, a French minister demanded enormous concessions (bribes) from the United States just to continue the negotiations.  In response, American delegate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney responded, “Not a sixpence.”  Delegate Robert Goodloe Harper chimed in:  “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.”

Jump ahead 214 years to 2011.  Acclaimed Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg decides to produce a movie about President Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.  In order to entice him to film portions of the movie in Virginia, on Tuesday Governor McDonnell announced that Virginia will pay Spielberg “incentives” worth $4.6 million.

You read that right:  Virginia had to give multi-billionaire Steven Spielberg $4.6 million of taxpayer money (and in-kind contributions) to get him to come to Virginia to film a movie about events that occurred in Virginia.

Here’s what I want to know:

If this taxpayer-funded “incentive” payment is an investment, then will Virginia get a percentage of the profits from the movie, or are we just greasing Spielberg’s skids?

Will the tax revenues collected by the Commonwealth resulting from this project equal or exceed the $4.6 million “incentive” paid to Spielberg?  If not, then I don’t see how this expenditure can be justified, even if it does create a number of new (mostly temporary) jobs.  It is not appropriate to force all taxpayers to pay for a project that will benefit only a select few.

The bottom line is that Virginia should not have to pay millions of taxpayer dollars to a multi-billionaire to get him to film a movie in Virginia about historical events that occurred in Virginia.  We should have told him, “Not a sixpence.”

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About the author

Ken Falkenstein

Ken Falkenstein has been a staffer in the United States Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates. He has managed political campaigns. He was a military intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army in West Germany during the Cold War. He is currently a civil litigation attorney with Poole Mahoney, P.C. in Virginia Beach. But his concern for his kids' future is what most informs his writing.