OLYMPIA – The Senate agreed last week to extend tax breaks for film companies that shoot movies and TV shows in Washington.

That makes economic sense, considering a movie being shot in Spokane generates jobs as well as a certain amount of buzz that can’t be measured in monetary terms but definitely boosts community spirits.

Spotting stars like Samuel L. Jackson or Cuba Gooding Jr. at downtown hotels, bars and coffee shops is great sport. Even the most jaded among us can’t resist watching a locally shot production like The Basket and telling out-of-town friends and relatives:  “Well you know, the climactic basketball game is actually played…” **
 

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But in this day of hyper vigilance over tax loopholes, it might be wise for the House to add an amendment with some limitations on the exemptions. That is, we won’t give incentives to clunkers that use our communities as a backdrop. Instead, we’ll double the taxes for the real turkeys that get shot here.
Not to mention any by name, but a certain Grade Z detective flick that was so bad it went straight to DVD definitely did the city no favors. Even worse was the disc’s “extras” that had one star describing Spokane as having lots of “film noire stuff”. Yes, the city is full of guys in fedoras who refer to their handguns as “gats” and women in big hats who like to be called “dames”.

** The Masonic Temple in downtown Spokane.
 

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