• Paramount is putting together a new division designed to craft new video games based on both current and classic Paramount films. You know what that means…”I Drink Your Milkshake” for the Wii!!!
• New York’s state Senate and Assembly are expected to soon announce a compromise on the tax credit issue that was left in the lurch when governor Eliot Spitzer resigned to spend more time with his soul-crushing self-hatred. The new deal will favor the Democrat-led Assembly’s plan, which aimed to increase tax credits on below-the-line costs, thus supporting the state’s filmmaking infrastructure over luring flashy out-of-town productions.
• 2008’s total box office is so far 3 percent above 2007’s, but that’s mostly due to that 3D Hannah Montana thing, and 2007 holdovers like Alvin and the Chipmunks––not a single action film has grossed over $100 over the past three months. And that’s not going to change this weekend, although both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter seem confident that 21 will do well, and Stop-Loss will not.
• Director Alexis Spraic, producer James Scurlock, and Bunim-Murray Productions are joining forces on a documentary about the “globalization pioneer” who founded DHL.

You knew this was coming: The Hollywood Reporter reveals that in addition to apparently ending his political career, Eliot Spitzer’s date with call girl Ashley Alexandra Dupre may have a lasting impact on New York state’s recently-resurgent film industry. Gregg Goldstein notes that although both the Repblicate state Senate and the Democrat state Assembly are in favor of upping the tax credits, they have wildly different visions of how the new plan should look. The Senate plan, in putting more emphasis on breaks for above-the-line costs such as actor salaries, would seem to benefit visiting, big-budget studio films; the Democrat Assembly plan, in focusing specifically on below-the-line costs, is more concerned with supporting homegrown talent, and is “meant to help build New York’s film industry infrastructure by supporting and establishing ongoing production jobs.”

So who’s gonna win? Right now the safe money says Spitzer’s replacement David Patterson will do everything he can to rebuild bridges broken by Spitzer’s scandal by playing nice with the Republican Senate. Also, he’s apparently BFF with Spitzer-hating Senate leader Joseph Bruno, which makes it all the more likely that he’ll turn his back on his own party in the name of post-prostitute reconciliation.

I wonder why the grassroots film community hasn’t made a bigger deal out of this yet. It’s enough to make a girl wish that Jem Cohen would start blogging.

[Via FILMMAKER Blog]