WASHINGTON — At the Business of Show Business 2 conference here today (see my write-up on it) MPAA released a new report, “The Economic Impact of the Motion Picture & Television Industry on the United States.” I encourage you to read the complete report, examine its methodology, dive into the footnotes, but here are some highlights:

In 2007, the production and distribution of motion pictures and television programs was responsible for:

* 2.5 million American jobs.
* More than $41 billion in wages to American workers.
* More than $38 billion in payments to U.S. companies, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
* Generating $13 billion in income and sales taxes.
* Creating a positive trade surplus of $13.6 billion.

In addition, communities across the nation and small businesses and entrepreneurs in all 50 states participate in this economy:

* In 2007, $38.2 billion was paid to vendors across America.
* More than 115,000 businesses are part of this production and distribution family, with 81% employing 10 or fewer people, with 1 in 4 a sole proprietorship.
* In 2008, film and television activity took place in every U.S. state and D.C.
* More than 40 states and D.C. have enacted incentives to bring in production and create local jobs. Panelists from Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta, and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, talked about the tremendous economic growth their regions have seen from this. Scalise said tax incentives make sense, because if it doesn’t lead to new production you haven’t lost anything because you wouldn’t be collecting the tax anyway.
* In 2007, the American motion picture and television production industry had a positive balance of trade of $13.6 billion — which is 10 percent of the total U.S. private sector trade surplus in services. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who knows just a wee bit about international trade, spoke passionately about how important IP industries such as motion pictures are to the economy and our trade balance.

As for new ways of reaching consumers:

* In less than one year of operation, Hulu.com is now the second-most popular site in the U.S. for viewing videos.
* As of January of this year, there have been more than 500 million episodes viewed on ABC.com.
* In February 2009, Nickelodeon’s Nick.com delivered 69 million streams and had 2.5 million unique viewers, just slightly above our traffic here at the Copyright Alliance blog (checking to see if you were still with me).

The business of show business employs millions. It generates billions in wages, income and sales taxes, and trade surpluses. It is in every corner of the country. It is an enabler of small business.

Dwayne Johnson — better known as The Rock, but I wasn’t about to call him that to his face — said at the luncheon today that there is no better economic value today than a movie ticket, which he said averages $7.18. That $7.18, he said, enables all of this economic activity and all of this creativity. Let’s keep it coming.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at 4:38 pm by Patrick Ross and is filed under creators, economy, events, international, internet, market forces. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.