Movie spending and employment in Massachusetts took a dive in 2010 amid the Great Recession and uncertainty about the state’s film tax credit, but picked up sharply this year and are expected to be strong again in 2012, according to a new report from the Revenue Department.

The report said film production spending in Massachusetts totaled $58 million in 2010, down from $333 million in 2009 and $480 million in 2008. Average quarterly employment in the state’s motion picture and video industry was 5,279 in 2010, well off the peak of 6,059 in 2008.

The downturn in movie spending and employment coincided with a drop-off in big-budget Hollywood films coming to the state. The decline also coincided with a sharp downturn in the national economy and attempts by the Patrick administration to rein in the cost of the state’s film tax credit. The attempts were either shot down by the Legislature or withdrawn by the administration.

Greg Bialecki, the state’s secretary of housing and economic development, said the downturn in the economy contributed to a fall-off in movie productions, but he acknowledged the debate over scaling back the state’s film tax credit was also a factor. “There were mixed messages from Massachusetts about whether we were still enthusiastic about welcoming people who want to make movies here,” he said.

Those mixed messages were put to rest earlier this year when Bialecki led a delegation to Hollywood to promote Massachusetts as a film location. Bialecki said the delegation’s timing was good; officials at Universal Studios at the time were trying to decide where to shoot a film called R.I.P.D., starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. The officials ultimately opted for Massachusetts, and the film is shooting here now.

Partly because of the return this year of big budget films, the Revenue Department report projects spending of at least $222 million in 2011. It also said 2012 looks strong, with six projects already underway and likely to finish next year that are expected to spend at least $114 million.

Producers of movies, TV shows, or commercials in Massachusetts are entitled to a tax credit equal to 25 percent of whatever they spend here. Producers typically sell the tax credit back to the state or to a third party to generate cash.

In 2010, the Revenue Department report said producers spent a total of $58 million here and received tax credits of $14.6. The report said $18 million of the spending would have happened anyway since the productions were based here. (Many TV shows produced by WGBH, for example, qualify for the tax credit.)

Income earned in Massachusetts by actors, directors, and production employees is taxed here, but the Revenue Department said it has received no tax payments on residuals – payments typically made to actors and directors after the release of a film. “This is a subject of ongoing analysis by the department,” the report said.

Homepage photo by Grant Brummett published under a Creative Commons license.