New Ernst & Young Report Shows Positive ROI From Michigan's Fast Growing Film and Television Industry

State's Top Convention & Visitors Bureaus Commissioned the Study in Late 2010

DETROIT, Feb. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new research study conducted by respected international accounting firm Ernst & Young - commissioned by the Convention & Visitors Bureaus for metro Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor and Traverse City - already shows a positive Return on Investment (ROI) from Michigan's film production tax credit, despite the fact that the program has been in place for less than three full years.

"When we hired Ernst & Young's Washington, D.C., office to look into the real financial picture behind Michigan's film production credit, we weren't sure what the report would show," said Larry Alexander, President & CEO of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. "When the final report was presented to us last week, we were delighted to learn that this fast growing new industry had already created 3,860 full time equivalent jobs for Michigan residents in 2010, at an average salary of $53,700 - per year, and generated an estimated impact on statewide sales of $503 million in 2010 alone … or $5.94 per dollar of net credit cost."

The report looked at the net cost of the film, TV and digital gaming production credit by subtracting the estimated new taxes, fees and reduction in unemployment insurance benefits experienced by the state of Michigan from the earned credits in 2009 and 2010, producing a figure of $52.5 million in 2009 and $84.7 million in 2010.

"Diversifying Michigan's economy by investing $84.7 million - and generating over a half a billion dollars of economic activity and nearly 4,000 high paying jobs - sounds like a pretty good deal to us," according to Alexander.

For a complete copy of the Ernst & Young report, click on www.visitdetroit.com.

SOURCE Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau