Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the boyfriend of pop superstar Taylor Swift, will be making his film producer debut that will benefit from President Joe Biden’s renewable energy tax credit.
Kelce, who took home a Super Bowl ring this past Sunday, will put on the producer’s hat this year with the film My Dead Friend Zoe, which will be financed from the president’s tax credits. The movie will premiere at the SXSW film festival and will star Natalie Morales, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. Kelce will be serving as an executive producer on the film. Per Variety:
The investors in the low-budget dark comedy, which include Kelce, are the first to take advantage of 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act to finance a film. (My Dead Friend Zoe cost less than $10 million.)
The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in August 2022, marks ‘the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history, enabling America to tackle the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, securing America’s position as a world leader in domestic clean energy manufacturing and putting the United States on a pathway to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate goals, including a net-zero economy by 2050,’ according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s web site. My Dead Friend Zoe used money generated by green energy entrepreneur Mike Field’s sale of surplus tax credits. (Field is also a producer on the film.)
Ray Maiello, who runs California-based Radiant Media Studios with Field, said the tax credits help make the financing of a movie less risky.
“Hollywood is risky, right? On a scale of one to 10, Hollywood, it is a 9.5. Especially in terms of independent film,” he said. “These federal tax credits take the risk down to like a five.”
“[Field] and I wanted to branch out and we’ve been talking about [expanding] for years. And then Biden really incentivized it,” Maiello added. “Biden saw that people can’t plan what their tax liabilities are going to be. People don’t want to take risks. And so he really opened it up with these federal tax credits and we’re combining that with Hollywood. That’s the idea.”
Kelce, Maiello, and Field will reportedly use the same strategy to finance a second film – a documentary – which could potentially spark a “trend in Hollywood of employing the Inflation Reduction Act as a way to raise funds and bolster the flagging indie film sector.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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