There are a variety of reasons why a so-called "Hollywood" production will choose to shoot in a certain state. Scripts differ and create different needs for rural scenery and urban environments, and sometimes directors and producers have fond memories of a place and look for a reason to return. But the film business is first and foremost a business. It gives as good as it gets. In return for good locations for the right price, the local economy is rewarded with a huge upswing in jobs and services like food and hotels. As it's working right now, Hollywood is in the habit of following tax incentives, which is why New Orleans is currently going through a boom period and other states are trying to jump on that bandwagon.

On the other end of that spectrum is Washington State. Our leaders don't realize how fickle and spendthrift big movie productions really are. They seem to believe the myth that Hollywood will go anywhere and spend anything to get the right look. It just ain't so. Governor Gregoire recently said, "Hollywood doesn't need a subsidy from state government. Movies or TV commercials are shot in Washington because of desirable scenery, not the film office." She's wrong. Then again, maybe she thinks the new set-in-Seattle TV show Grey's Anatomy is currently being shot in Seattle because she saw the Space Needle in it. As it turns out, though, Hollywood just grabbed the "desirable scenery" and is spending the bulk of their money elsewhere.

Having a film office is no guarantee of landing a big show, but it does increase the odds. Whenever a film production is considering a specific city, they like to have a central organization to go to in order to gain access to location files and local cast and crew resumés. Local talent helps make productions cheaper--and local talent stays local when there's the promise of work to carry them through the lean months. Low-paying indie features and the tight-knit industrial film market can only hold our most talented people for so long.

It's impossible to calculate how much money the film office was responsible for bringing in during the '90s, our last heyday of motion-picture and TV production, but surely they had a hand in bringing shows like the Sly Stallone movie Assassins and the TV series The Fugitive. Since then, Canada has been drawing productions not just from us but from the whole country. That's slowly been turning around, especially in cities like New Orleans and Austin.

I disagree with Gregoire when she says, "I don't think the film office attracts movie makers to Washington State." I believe the film office does attract filmmakers to Washington State. It's just that the tough economy and lack of tax incentives causes them to turn away again. To shut down the film office is to shut the door on the chance of a big infusion of Hollywood money to the state economy. It's a bad and shortsighted plan. Heck, if she wants a big infusion of short-term money, she should repeal all tax incentives given to Microsoft. We'd be flush for as long as it took the company to move its corporate headquarters elsewhere.

andy@thestranger.com