Film Tax Credit Study Produced by Hollywood Consultants

One of our PolicyBlog readers sent us a note that the researchers contracted to do the study of the Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit (click here for our comments on the absurd assumptions of that study or the Tax Foundation blog on the same topic), were not academics or  independent analysts, but a Hollywood-based consulting firm, with numerous movie studios as their clients.

Indeed, a quick perusal of their website reveals the following description:

ERA is the leading economic consulting firm serving the entertainment and leisure development industry. We offer a wide range of economic, financial, marketing, planning, and management consulting services to both private and public clients. Since our first study for Walt Disney some 50 years ago, ERA has pioneered the analytical techniques and methodologies related to the planning, development and operational evaluation of many of the world’s leading attractions.

Their clients include:

• Columbia Pictures
• The Walt Disney Company 
• Sony Corporation 
• Twentieth Century Fox 
• Universal Studio
• Warner Brothers

 Take that for what you will.