While the big-budget, locally filmed Johnny Depp film “Public Enemies” may succeed at the box office, it has already fallen below state revenue expectations, according to the Wisconsin Department of Commerce.
Public Enemies Productions LLC reported more than $18 million in expenses to the DOC, who then estimated the tax break the company will receive at $4.6 million. The break nearly cancels out the money earned by the state from filming, which added up to $5 million.
The state’s film incentives statute states a production company may receive a tax credit of 25 percent of the wages paid to employees to produce its media, including film, electronic games and television programs. This law also includes credits for sales tax, construction, wardrobe and visual effects.
From mid-March until the end of June, “Public Enemies” filmed in many locations around Wisconsin, including Madison, Oshkosh, Columbus, Milwaukee, Darlington, Beaver Dam and Oregon. The film was also shot in areas of Indiana, Illinois and Los Angeles.
“Public Enemies” was the first big-budget film to be shot under the new tax incentives rules for filmmakers, as the law was recently passed in January of this year.
Scott Robbe, executive director for Film Wisconsin, and Dave Santoe, a coordinator for Visit Milwaukee, said in a joint interview that this report is incomplete. They said the $5 million only includes the $3.5 million and the $1.5 million garnered from the visitor bureaus of Oshkosh and Columbus respectively.
According to Robbe and Santoe, “Public Enemies” will continue to make money for the state by creating more tourist attractions, like the filming site for “Field of Dreams” in Iowa and the “A Christmas Story” house in Ohio that have become major tourist spots.
Robbe and Santoe also said the film is “the gift that keeps on giving.” By stimulating Wisconsin’s film industry, the state will also create many more attractive and high-paying jobs.
They added the program needs to become more competitive in order to succeed, and one way of doing so would be to raise the tax credit percentage. Neighboring states Illinois, Michigan and Iowa offer 30, 40 and 50 percent tax credits, respectively.
The DOC stated it was planning on revising the incentives to make it more lucrative before the effect of “Public Enemies” was realized. Possible changes include capping the tax breaks at $5 million per year and adding the phrase “up to” in front of 25 percent in the law.
“Public Enemies” is an adaptation of the Bryan Burrough novel “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34.” The story describes the changes made in the FBI as a result of crime sprees involving John Dillinger, Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd and Lester “Baby Face Nelson” Gillis.
The film is directed by Michael Mann and stars Johnny Depp as the infamous bank robber Dillinger, Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis and Marion Cotillard as Depp’s love interest. The release date for “Public Enemies” is set for July 1.
