There's no confusing a crab cake with a cheese steak or the U.S. Naval Academy with the Liberty Bell.
But these are fine distinctions in moviedom, as Maryland learned around this time last year, when Walt Disney Co. decided to film its movie "Annapolis" in Philadelphia.
"It hurt," said Dennis M. Castleman, Maryland's assistant secretary for tourism, film and the arts. "It really, really hurt. It stung."
That's when the state began plotting a way to woo Tinseltown.
Maryland was the obvious choice for a movie about a down-on-his-luck young man who gets accepted into the Naval Academy, the crown jewel of Annapolis. But Pennsylvania offered what Maryland did not: a lucrative tax credit. So Disney shuttered its Baltimore production office, canceled its hotel rooms, and took with it the $10 million it was expected to generate for Maryland's economy.
For at least a decade, states chasing after movie and television dollars had to compete with the cheap labor, the financial sweeteners and the favorable exchange rates of other countries, most notably Canada. Consider that the big-screen version of the musical "Chicago" was filmed in Toronto and the Civil War-era love story "Cold Mountain" was shot in Romania.
To head off so-called runaway productions, more than a dozen states began offering their own incentives within the past two years, and they're now locked in battle trying to one-up each other.
Maryland joined their ranks after the "Annapolis" debacle. This year, the state legislature approved $4 million in wage rebates for movies, television shows and commercials filmed in the state. Virginia, which lost $750 million worth of film work in the past four years, plans to propose its own perks when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. And the District is watching its neighbors and weighing its options as Maryland steals its scenes, with movies casting Baltimore in the role of the capital.
Even California, the moviemaking capital of the world, soon may enact subsidies to shore up its share of production dollars.
Jack Gerbes, director of the Maryland Film Office, said studio officials who once grilled him with questions about specific sites and the expertise of the state's workforce have shifted focus.
"This year, every question is, 'What will you give us to shoot in Maryland?' " Gerbes said. "It is always the first question."
The answer: up to $2 million. The more a production spends in the state, the more money it gets in return. Under the new law, producers can claim as much as 50 percent in rebates for the first $25,000 paid to an employee -- not the superstars, just those who earn less than $1 million.
